Student fees can cover public transportation as early as next semester

The newly-elected Associated Student Government presidents of the San Jose Evergreen Valley Community College District are moving ahead with plans to implement affordable access to public transportation as soon as next semester after years of delay.

“This time,” San Jose City College ASG President Alex Ward, 29, biochemistry major, said, “we’re not going to make the same mistakes.”

Ward is continuing a previous initiative to get the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority’s Eco Pass program installed at the school in order to significantly reduce the cost of public transportation for students by making it a shared cost paid for through student fees.

“Depending on how quick me and Andrew Le, the Evergreen (Valley College ASG) president, can work,” Ward said. “If we can get the contracts solidified, then we could probably get the Eco Pass by next semester.”

The former SJCC ASG president tried to get the Eco Pass implemented last semester, but the program faced a lot of hurdles and did not make it to the board of trustees for a vote. One of the primary reasons the initiative failed was monetary.

“In order for us to initiate the VTA Eco Pass, we, as a district, needed to put forward an amount of about over $200,000,” Michael Casas, 43, political science major, said. “The Associated Students at both campuses didn’t have enough in their reserves to put up as collateral.”

Casas said one major issue was the Eco Pass election e-mail “was only sent out to students who paid their activities fees and it should’ve been sent out to all students.”

Additionally, “the ballot language stated that it was going to include fees that were going to help pay for advertisements on buses,” but any transportation fees elected on by students could only be spent on transportation.

“I did my best, I tried for two years to get it passed,” Casas said. “Unfortunately it didn’t get approved.”

Ward said he is going to make sure to include the board of trustees along every step of the process to make sure everything goes smoothly.

He also believes student fees would be able to cover the program, but is definitely interested in the idea of applying for grants since they have been successfully procured at other institutions.

The transportation needs of the students at San Jose State University are financed, not only by the Associated Students campus fee ($84.50), but also by grants from the University Police Department Parking Services’ Alternative Transportation Funds ($95,000) and the Bay Area Air Quality Management Transportation Fund for Clean Air ($120,000), according to SJSU’s Transportation Solutions website.

“There’s nothing more important than education,” Ward said.“So we should get students here by any means necessary.”