It’s a painful reality that, to get what we want, we have to give something up.
Such is the case with the proposed transit fee increase of $23.50 a year, with no additional service.
It might be a raw deal, but it’s better than the alternative. Thus, the tuition and fee advisory task force should approve this fee.
If the fee doesn’t increase, service will suffer. In 2011, Chapel Hill Transit was forced to cut service of the RU, NU and CCX lines due to a lack of funds. Raising the fee will help avoid a repeat of these types of cuts.
Chapel Hill Transit provides an obvious public good to the town and University. In the absence of a well-functioning public transit system, numerous students and residents would find themselves stranded without any reliable way of commuting to class or work. The transit system also decreases traffic, sprawl and congestion.
Currently, much of the funding for town transit comes from campus parking subsidies. A failure to increase the student fee would mean the need to build more parking.
Also, the emphasis in parking construction has shifted from lots to parking structures, which are less sprawling but more expensive to maintain.
Furthermore, students already underpay for use of the system. In 2010-11, students only paid 29.5 percent of the costs of town transit while comprising the vast majority of ridership.
The proposed increase, as part of Chapel Hill Transit’s five-year plan, would have students paying 41.5 percent of the costs by 2015-16; this is far more in line with students’ usage.
