The quotes in this article were falsely attributed to Maureen McCarthy.

 Edited July 27, 2009.  Read McCarthy's letter to the editor correcting the errors here.

Western officials are currently working with the Whatcom Transportation Authority (WTA) in an effort to reach a compromise regarding the cost of student bus passes. The main goal is to increase WTA’s need for greater revenue without increasing the Student Transportation Fee.

While Western and WTA both refuse to comment on exact figures until the deal is finalized in July, the new three-year contract will not affect how much students are paying for the passes, said Morgan Holmgren, Associated Students Vice President for Legislative and Governmental Affairs. Students will continue to pay $25 per quarter for the Alternative Transportation Fee, which was approved by students in April 2007.

The Alternative Transportation Fee includes a bus pass for all WTA buses, not just those that run on routes to and from campus. The passes are available to students taking more than six credits and provide access to the Late Night Shuttle, which many students depend on for safe transportation. Western junior Brandon Owens said he would not mind if the fee was raised, as long as the Late Night Shuttle was not suspended.

Owens and others should not worry, because the contract will not impede the ability of the AS to provide the late night shuttle to students, Holmgren said.

“I think students are getting a great deal with the bus pass, and in this economy, I understand the WTA’s need to increase fees,” Owens said.  

WTA currently receives $14 of the students' transportation fee, which amounts to $561,928 per year. If the new fee of $17.63 is implemented, WTA’s new annual revenue from Western will be an annual increase of $702,411. This will help to ensure that WTA is not forced to lay off any workers, a situation the agency wants to avoid at all costs, WTA spokesperson Maureen McCarthy, said.

The last thing the WTA wants to do is cut staff; ridership has increased 55 percent with an additional 700,000 boardings per year since the universal bus pass was implemented. The majority of WTA’s funding comes from Western, so ending the contract and eliminating the student passes is not an option, McCarthy said.      

  Because individual student fees are not going to be raised, WTA wants to raise the amount it receives from Western for the 2009-10 school year, which means a larger percentage from each student’s transportation fee will be paid to the WTA,  McCarthy said.

“I would hate to see Western end relations with WTA,” Owens said. “The bus drivers are friendly and on time.  I haven’t spent money on gas in a long time now, and I’m sure traffic and the environment are all being well served.”

Apart from increasing Western’s rates, WTA has proposed an increase of 25 percent in bus fare for the general public, which means increasing the fare from 75 cents to $1. The monthly rate for bus passes will be increased from $20 to $25. These increased fares will help soften the blow of the projected WTA $900,000 budget shortfall for 2009. This change will take effect in October 2009.

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