Apostol is a UCLA student. For any information on the BruinGo!
campaign contact the General Representatives office at
(310)-825-2759, or e-mail [email protected].
By Theo Apostol
How does the university expect students to begin their great
futures if they can’t get to campus? Parking fees are on the
rise, and the most tangible transportation service (BruinGO!)
provided for students is going to be cut. Where is the commitment
from Transportation Services and the university?
Limited by space and legislatively enforced quotas, parking is
limited and causes a strain in the direct commuting access to the
university. This in turn, puts UCLA’s Transportation Services
in a unique situation where their control over a limited good in
high demand allows them to take advantage of a student
necessity.
This position is currently seen in the recent parking fee
increases proposed for this upcoming school year. The price for
daily parking permits will be hiked from $6 to $7, and commuter
permits will rise from $48 to $52 per month. These increases will
hurt students ““ all so that the revenue generated from them
can be used primarily to pay off debts the department has
incurred.
For a department dubbed “transportation services,” a
great priority is given to parking. True, parking is a staple for
students, but it should not be the only way to access the campus;
it should also be kept affordable. The imbalance, however, between
parking funding and other transit services is directly reflected in
the alternative access routes to the campus. For example, vanpool
and carpool services are considered viable options. Yet the 134
vanpools consist of a majority of faculty and staff, meaning only a
small percentage of students benefit from this service. Although
carpool subsidies allow for more efficient use of parking, the
service still relies on parking. Furthermore, only 768 students use
the carpool service.
The other alternative given by transportation services is
bicycle racks. However, only 3 percent of the campus population
utilizes this service.
Aggressive action to promote and expand these services should
and must take place.
Instead, the department is headed in the opposite direction.
Transportation Services, the most widely used and most tangible
service, is on the chopping block. BruinGO!, which allows students,
staff and faculty a free ride on the Big Blue Bus with a swipe of a
card, is not even included in Transportation Services’
upcoming budget.
I don’t know if Transportation Services is afraid of
helping students or if they are just afraid of good publicity, but
these actions will keep them in the student population doghouse.
Trying to get parking is bad enough now, but what will happen when
students have to pay for bus rides again? The service has proven to
be useful. In its second year as a pilot program, BruinGO! has
proven its effectiveness with significant increases in ridership.
In the three month spanning from October to December, the BruinGo!
Program accounted for over 520,000 riders. Not to mention that this
three month span includes three weeks of off-peak ridership due to
vacation.
Worst is that Transportation Services and the university have
done little to find funding for the BruinGO! Program, nor have they
done anything to indicate the importance of preserving it. This is
unacceptable.
For years students have tolerated the exponential rise in
parking and transportation costs. We tried to understand the
difficulties the Parking and Transportation Boards of UCLA have had
in providing adequate means for the student body and its
surrounding communities to gain access to our public institution.
But, in light of the 2002-2003 budget proposal set forth by
UCLA’s Transportation Services Board, and the absence of any
attempt to preserve BruinGo!, our tolerant and understanding
support will not last long.
We demand that Transportation Services and the university
provide adequate and affordable contingencies above what has been
offered. We, as students and as a community, have a right to access
our university.
UCLA and Transportation Services need to actively seek and
provide alternative methods for its students to gain access to
their educations. As students we must let the university hear our
voices. It is time that we remind the university that it should
serve its students first.
Sign petitions to save BruinGo! and refute parking fee increases
either in person or online at
www.petitiononline.com/ucIgZpetition.html. And ride the Big Blue
Bus as often as possible. It’s already paid for.