TO THE EDITOR:
The Daily Tar Heel editorial, “Approve transit proposal,” (Sept. 27) misrepresented the facts surrounding the proposed transit fee increase.
This proposed increase stems from the five-year plan, which governs campus transportation policy through 2016.
In crafting this plan, Department of Public Safety failed to engage any undergraduate students, and now they’re asking students to foot the bill for parking projects we won’t benefit from.
While transit costs are rising, the primary reason for this increase is DPS’ desire to end using parking permit revenue to cover some transit costs. This is problematic for two reasons.
First, DPS claims additional revenue is needed to cover parking deck construction and maintenance costs, and thus parking revenue should no longer go to transit. Yet students are allocated only 7 percent of 21,500 parking permits, and are not benefiting from expanded decks or maintenance expenditures.
Second, this fee goes beyond just the $23.50 increase this year. The five-year plan demands a $14 a year increase over the next four years.
These increases mean the transit fee will increase by 50 percent over the five-year period, and will have increased by 100 percent over 10 years. This is an unsustainable and troubling trend.
We agree students should pay their fair share to avoid transit service reductions, but increased transit costs are only one part of DPS’ requested fee increase. Parking should continue to subsidize transit, and the student fee increase should not be as much as currently requested.
