USAC not completely satisfied with new BruinGo! co-pay proposal

Hold off on getting change for that spare dollar. If the
Undergraduate Students Association Council has its way, students
taking advantage of the BruinGo! program won’t have to pay a
single cent to continue riding the Big Blue Bus.

Transportation Services presented its 25-cent co-pay program to
USAC on Feb 4. Under this program students would pay 25 cents every
time they ride the bus in addition to swiping a valid
BruinCard.

This proposal was in response to an independent study conducted
last April which suggests the $1.3 million cost to run BruinGo!
outweighs its benefits.

Even though the council did not fully reject the proposal, they
did not embrace it either.

Adam Pearlman, recently appointed facilities commissioner
representative, said there is room in the proposal for changes. He
said USAC members are looking for alternative ways to continue the
funding without having students pay any part of the fare.

“We are not completely satisfied with the proposal. We
believe we can work with it and offer possible changes,”
Pearlman said.

One of the main objections against the proposal is the need for
students to always carry exact change on them, said Joseph Vardner,
Transportation Services Board undergraduate representative.

“The bus does not make change. If you don’t have a
quarter, you have to pay a dollar,” Vardner said.

Jose Barba, a customer representative for the Big Blue Bus,
explained why riders need exact change. He said that in the 1970s,
there were several robberies on buses that endangered the lives of
bus drivers, so for driver safety they no longer carry change.

Vardner said USAC is also concerned students are already paying
a lot for fees and having a 25-cent co-pay can add up.

This is exactly the sentiment Janie Ortiz, second-year political
science student, expressed when asked if she minds paying a
co-pay.

“It sucks. They already raised the tuition. It just seems
we’re paying more but getting less,” Ortiz said.
“I know 25 cents is not a lot, but if you look at the big
picture, it will add up to a lot.”

Vardner said USAC is looking into endorsing a raise of student
parking fees by $1 per month and parking citation fees by $2 in
order to come up with funding. Vardner added no USAC referendum has
been brought forward with regards to fee increase.

“Transportation Services is willing to consider raising
parking fees or citation fees as long as BruinGo! is not funded
solely by these two,” Vardner said. “otherwise,
students would have to pay an extra $90 for parking per
year.”

Vardner said the council is not looking to pass the cost of
funding the program to students and raising parking citation fees
would actually have the added bonus of discouraging students from
breaking parking rules.

According to Renee Fortier, acting transportation services
director, the co-pay plan was introduced precisely because the
“proposal avoids further impact to already proposed parking
fees.”

Fortier said Transportation Services “had cut already from
other operations areas in order to continue BruinGo! for the
future” and the 25-cent co-pay is necessary to continue the
program without impacting student fees.

The strong push for the continuance of the BruinGo! program
comes from the additional 60,000 students projected to attend UCLA
in the next 10 years.

With more students attending UCLA, Vardner believes BruinGo! is
key to allow those living on campus without cars to have access to
the greater Los Angeles area.

As the university looks to become less and less of a commuter
school and more of a residential school, there is the need to
provide students with access to the Los Angeles community.

Wei Yu, a fourth-year computer science student, said although he
prefers a free ride to paying 25 cents, it’s better than
paying the full fare.

“It’s not a big deal. I would still use it because
it’s more convenient for me than driving,” Yu said.

Last year, the program was subsidized by Transportation Services
and prior to that paid for with a grant from the Metropolitan
Transportation Authority.

The proposal was presented to the Graduate Student Association
Wednesday for their input and suggestions. There is a month
reserved for faculty and other students to voice their opinions and
their concerns.

According to Vardner, USAC is looking to have the issue of
funding resolved by the end of spring quarter or sooner, just in
time for the next school year.