This post was updated April 10 at 10:54 p.m.

The Undergraduate Students Association Council unanimously passed a resolution March 11 calling for increased funding and an improved transportation service for disabled students.

UCLA Transportation has indicated that BruinAccess – a transit service for students with disabilities – could face a reduction in service and funding due to budget restraints for the 2025-2026 fiscal year, according to the resolution, which also calls for an external audit of the program and the Center for Accessible Education.

Under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, UCLA is legally obligated to provide adequate accommodations for students with disabilities and ensure that disabled students receive equal opportunities to all programs, events or services at UCLA.

Roxas Haze, a coordinator with the Disabled Student Union, said disabled students already experience wait times exceeding two hours, a frequent inability to obtain rides and sporadic cancellations. BruinAccess averaged only 60 rides per day across its three vans in 2023, which led to missed stops and delays, according to the resolution.

“People are not getting rides to their classes. They are not getting their rides to their meetings in reference to their academic needs, which means that they’re potentially missing classes,” said Haze, a third-year disability studies student who is disabled. “We had an external audit a few weeks ago, and a few students talked about how they had to drop classes or even drop out of UCLA.”

USAC Internal Vice President Josh Garland, a primary sponsor of the resolution, said while BruinAccess previously qualified for UCLA Student Finance Solutions funding, the Student Fee Advisory Committee has said UCLA Transportation will likely not qualify this year because SFS considers them an auxiliary unit, which student service fees cannot be used for.

Garland, a fourth-year history and political science student, added that the program does not receive external funding. If BruinAccess does not qualify for SFS funding, it may need to reduce its service, he added.

“We don’t want to use student fees to cover BruinAccess,” Garland said. “Since this is something that the university is supposed to supply, it should come out of the university’s pockets.”

USAC Student Wellness Commissioner Chiara Frank, another primary sponsor of the resolution, said the council will advocate to find funding for BruinAccess outside of levying additional student fees.

A spokesperson for UCLA Transportation said in a written statement that it is “aware of the concerns raised about BruinAccess and is committed to providing the best service possible for the campus community,” adding that the number of vehicles used by the program has doubled, and its services have expanded since its launch around five years ago.

“UCLA Transportation is also aware of problems riders have experienced in recent months with the trip request application, TripShot, and automated rejections,” the spokesperson said. “The department takes these concerns very seriously and understands how stressful it is to be uncertain about the availability of transportation – especially to/from classes.”

The spokesperson also said in the statement that BruinAccess is fully funded by parking permit fees.

Frank, a fourth-year neuroscience student, said USAC also wants to continue to open communication with disabled students. She said her office also held a town hall with DSU on March 11.

“Something we really highlighted in our conversations across our offices and DSU and others yesterday was carrying on our sentiment of bringing in different voices on campus, opening feedback, having different types of collaboration and continuing to bring more voices into the conversation about how to be most effective,” Frank said.

Haze said hybrid access programs – programs that offer both in-person and remote options for on-campus duties – should be available for disabled students if accommodations cannot be met.

“The disabled students should have the ability to access the same things that those without impairment should be able to access, including in-person office hours, lectures, discussions, clubs – … being able to get around both Westwood and UCLA,” Garland said. “It really shows the need for hybrid options in the meantime if UCLA is unable to provide effective services for those with mobility impairments.”

Haze added that the resolution’s passage has left them hopeful that accessibility on campus will improve.

“Right now, disabled students are thrown under the bus,” Haze said. “We want disabled students to feel supported, we want their accommodations to be adequate, we want them to feel like they can succeed at this university and get what they intend, which is a degree.”