1. Get on the Bus! Improving college access through mass transit. Reginald James Former Peralta CCD Student Trustee AC Transit External Affairs Intern Sunday, August 3, 2008 trusteejames@gmail.com rjames@actransit.org

2. Why should you care about transit? Mobility choices Attracts residents Air quality improvement Reducing congestion More efficient land use Urban vitality Public safety

3. Introducing transit lingo Universal Transit Pass (U-Pass) Universe Ridership Deep group discount

4. Introducing transit lingo (continued) Revenue-neutral Unique users Unique riders Boardings (insertions)

5. How do students benefit from transit? Students save money Eliminates fare box barrier Reduce parking congestion Sense of belonging and inclusion

6. How do colleges benefit? Improved student retention Increased enrollment Reduced parking lot congestion Increase morale among employees

7. How do transit agencies benefit? Guaranteed source of revenue Increase ridership Ability to gauge specific ridership/patterns Improves overall transit service

8. How does community benefit? Reduce traffic congestion Improved air quality Expansion of transit service Schedule and route information New bus shelters/transit hubs

9. Negative impacts Loss of parking revenue Crowding on buses (off-set by prpaid nature of program) Withdrawal from oil addiction

10. Model programs UMASS Began in early 1960s Partnership between UMASS and Pioneer Valley (Springfiled-Amherst Area) Transit Authority Connects Amherst, MA with five colleges: Umass- Amherst, Hampshire, Amherst College, Smith and Mount Holyoke. Funded by: local, state and federal governments and five universities program serves Program is free for residents, students, faculty/staff.

11. Where will the money come from? General funds Parking and transportation revenue Associated students Mandatory student fee Municipalities Special districts Federal earmarks and other grants

12. Types of programs Opt-in Opt-out Mandatory

13. California State University

14. Cal Poly (PolyCard) Arrangement between Cal Poly and City of San Luis Obispo, students, faculty and staff with valid PolyCard to ride buses for free.

15. Sacramento State (OneCard) Agreement between Sacramento State and Regional Transit (Sacramento) where students take unlimited rides.

16. San Jose State (TowerCard)

17. University of California UC Transportation Programs

18. UC Riverside September 2006 (expires August 30, 2008) Originally intended for just Crest Cruiser, now students can ride all RTA routes w/o paying fare Since inception, 5,000 UCR students riding over 180,000 times Ridership increased from 70,000 (FY 07) to 110,000 (through May 2008) UCR reimburses RTA from $.60 per-trip to $.75 per-trip maximum cap of $32 per student per month. Unique students grew 60% Boarding increased 70% Employees get 50% discount on service

19. UC Santa Barbara Has been around since the 1970s Students get unlimited rides on SBMTD All students pay $9 10% (2000) of students use it, 90% (18,000) subsidize the pass No opt-out, mandatory

20. UC Riverside Program in third year RTA took over responsibility for campus shuttle (Crest Cruiser/line 51) Opened up RTA to all routes Funded through TAP No charge to students

21. UC Berkeley (Class Pass) Conversations began in 1990 – Students began to receive discounted passes for $80 (only 1,800 sold) Price increased to $145 in 1997 (600 sold) Prices lowered, UC subsidizes $50,000 Student referendum in 1999 (30% turnout, 89% approval)

22. Class Pass Funding 1999 referendum set (“tax”) price at $10 per semester for all students – Unlimited access to AC Transit 2001 referendum set price at $34.50 for two years; $37.50 for next two years (four year agreement) Currently Class Pass costs $58.50 per semester Monthly adult pass $70/month

23. California Community Colleges

24. Los Rios Program started in 2005 Full-time students pay $15 for semester-long, five-month pass (regularly $85/month or $425 per semester) Unlimited rides on Regional Transit (RT) light- rail and buses Funded from general funds/parking and transportation fees

25. Los Rios Obstacle Estimated ridership: 400,000 annual ridership Actual Ridership: 1.4 million (an additional million) Low-income students were not paying for service but used service California Ed. Code exempts low income students from paying fee to keep colleges affordable

26. Rio Hondo Research began in 2005 Dean wanted to show that students spent more on transportation than for books Brought transportation companies to table and got discount Used bond funds initially Paid $70-$75,000 for 2000 passes. Program was free for full-time students

27. Special Legislation Needed Authorize district allow students to vote in majority of self-assessed fee Governor threatened to veto bill (election year) Specialized for Los Rios and Rio Hondo

28. Los Rios and Rio Hondo Student Referendum Los Rios Fall 2006 Yes­–92% Mandatory $15 fee for all students. PT students pay less. Spring 2008 Yes–%65 (297) No­ %35 (115) Exemptions: BOG, online students, veterans and vet’s dependents, community service, high schools.

29. Meanwhile in Oakland…

30. Peralta Students In May 2005, AC Transit considers fee increases Looking at UC Berkeley model we begin to ask, “Why can’t we get discounts?” Elected President of Black Caucus of CalSACC In 2001, students demanded subsidization of bus passes, according to LT Late-Trustee Susan Duncan and AC Transit Director Chris Peeples had conversations Groups never coalesced, plus funding always issue

31. Spring/Summer 2006 Elected to Peralta Board of Trustees Met with Peralta Chancellor Wrote Peralta Pass essay (position paper)

32. Fall 2006 Met with other Trustees (met with resistance/encouragement) Campaigning trustee sees Initial meeting with AC Transit and Peralta CCD

33. Spring 2007 Project stalled due to: Lack of Peralta staffing Lack of funding source But Student Trustees re-elected

34. First-year strengths and weaknesses Lack of student involvement In adequate Peralta commitment from student services staff Discussion of program, conversation begun

35. Fall 2008 Chancellor puts $500,000 on the table Student leadership not active; grassroots effort to inform students Survey of students Student Services staff assigned

36. Six-question survey Which of the Peralta Colleges fo you attend? How do you get to college? If you currently take AC Transit, do you have to transfer from one or more buses to get to college? Would you be interested in purchasing a Peralta – supported transit pass that would allow you unlimited AC Transit bus use during the semester? What time frame would most interested you in a Peratla-supported transit pass? What is the most you would be willing to pay for a Peralta-supported transit pass each semester?

37. November 2007 Initial survey results Board comments Student testimony on behalf of program Began classroom presentations

38. December 2007 Item put in informational reports section (couldn’t be voted on) Meeting with Chancellor and Sandre Swanson’s staff Initiated electronic letter writing campaign

39. Getting Board support Legislation initiated Students continue to come to Board meetings Item pulled from Board agenda (did not have the votes) Background bickering over health fee/transportation fee Intensify efforts to get students involved

40. Peralta College Transportation Accessibility Act AB 1980 introduced in February (amended in March) Asm. Higher Ed. Comte. April

41. Approving the pilot-program AC Transit finance committee votes in favor Peralta Board unanimous May 20 AC Transit board unanimous May 28

42. Challenges of implementing ID card distribution and production Marketing to students Future referendum (spring 2009)

43. Other campuses Santa Barbara Los Angeles City College Santa Monica Los Medanos Riverside Butte

44. Factors to Consider Local cities’ General Plans (Transportation) Air Quality Management Districts State Legislation

45. Questions?

46. trusteejames@gmail.com