LAFAYETTE, La. (AP) - Students at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette will vote this month on a fee increase that would help the school’s Office of Transportation Services purchase new buses and expand transportation options.
The Advocate reports (https://bit.ly/1iqL71a ) the student referendum will be added to the Student Government Association elections ballot on March 31 and April 1.
If passed, the measure would raise the student-assessed transportation fee from $25 to $50.
“One of the biggest grievances was the transit system,” SGA President David Neef said.
“It’s one of the biggest things students want to see at the university. Students want to see newer buses. We want to cut wait time in the lines. We want to make sure students are able get to class on time.”
Neef said the current fee was approved in 2002 and is not enough to expand transportation services or even to maintain the existing system.
Boh Hammett, a bus driver and SGA’s transportation services representative, was one of the proponents who helped move the measure along.
He said the only funding the department receives is from self-generated sources: the transit fee every student pays, parking passes that it sells and parking tickets.
He said the fee makes up the largest chunk of the department’s resources.
“We’re basically buying Band-Aids, man,” Hammett said. “We can’t afford to upkeep these buses, honestly. We have buses from 1994 to 2002 on the road every day. Individually, there are some that are better than others, but the fleet across the board is under constant repair.”
Hammett said the antiquated equipment is unable to meet the students’ demands for transportation.
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Information from: The Advocate, https://theadvocate.com
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