The Associated Students of Washington State University met last night to hear a proposal from Transit Advisory Group. The proposal would increase the Pullman Transit Fee paid by WSU students by five percent.
ASWSU unanimously voted in favor for the proposal. This followed the GSPA’s approval that held a two-thirds majority.
Senator Velazquez, RHA communications vice president Chantal Torres Santos, transportation services advisor Gabby Rodriguez and director Cody Wilson collectively explained the proposal.
The increase would combat the reduced enrollment rates at WSU and keep the Pullman Transit services running as normal for WSU students.
Senator Velazquez reminded the senate of the importance of accessible transport on campus.
“This helps students gain mobility […] for their work, school, grocery shopping. It helps students cut down on costs – we do not have the capacity on campus to have every student park on campus,” he said.
In this proposal, a $1.89 increase per semester would take the yearly cost of transit fees for students to $79.54, currently it sits at $75.76. An annual pass for Pullman Transit outside of WSU is $300.
“Since 2018 the fee has been increased twice…a little bit beyond that threshold of meeting inflation,” Velazquez said.
A referendum in 2017–18 allowed a five percent increase per year and it saw the last major increase of $5 extra.
“For me, and for the rest of TAG who made this decision, it’s really important that we receive this five percent increase and this funding,” Velazquez said.
Without the extra funding, the Pullman Transit service for WSU students could see cuts in services, Rodriguez said.
“If [Pullman Transit] don’t get enough funding, then they may need to rearrange services somehow,” he said.
Rodriguez said Pullman Transit meets with TAG and transportation services to discuss student feedback and user feedback.
“This [increase] will hopefully maintain services as they currently are, but they will also come back to the table and see what they can improve upon or where they can maintain some efficiencies – such as ‘do students still need airport services and how often’,” he said.
The five percent increase will prevent students from having to pay bigger increases in charges in the future.
“It’s important that students keep paying those small incremental increases rather than having [a] $5 increase, $10 increase or $30 increase,” Rodriguez said.
Senator Sage Steelman said they favored the small increase.
“I think the increase is small, I doubt students will even notice it,” he said.
Senator Cassidy Collins also spoke about the importance of maintaining the transit system within WSU.
“I’m highly in favor of this fee as someone who has had issues with accessibility. It’s definitely something that people with those issues can use and it’s an alternative to Cougar Access Van [which] can’t pick you up on time for class [or] they can’t drop you off in an area that you want all the time,” Collins said.
The ASWSU meets 5:30 p.m. every Wednesday in CUB 204.
