Should public transportation for students be subsidized? Oh, hell yes

One of the items included in the current ASPSU student government platform is this: Education is a right. On the “PSU Vision, Mission and Values” page on the university’s Web site, one of the core values listed is the commitment to providing access to learning.

Not only do I agree with these ideas, I’d like to link the two and elaborate a bit–affordable and functional access to education is a right.

PSU, being a commuter university, should provide access to students in the form of additionally subsidized TriMet passes. Currently, TriMet sells PSU slightly discounted all-zone passes ($220 per term, instead of $258 for three one-month passes), then PSU further reduces the cost to sell student passes for $175.

One could easily make a case that this is already a significant discount, but please consider this: Most students are paying for these passes with their very limited resources, including the student loans we will be paying off well into our future.

I’m sure that most of you are well aware that I’m not exaggerating when I say that every penny counts. Student loans and part-time jobs may not be as easy to come by (if what I read about the failing economy is even fractionally true), so we’ll be feeling even more crunch soon. A cheap way to get to school is crucial.

I’m pretty savvy to all the reasons why public transportation is a great idea. At this point, hasn’t everyone heard the arguments in favor of mass transit? If you–by some bizarre twist of fate–haven’t, here it is in a nutshell: It’s environmentally responsible, reduces traffic congestion and parking nightmares, and often costs less, given current gas prices and parking fees.

I can also figure out the basic argument against taking public transportation, for those who choose to drive: Why pay for a method of transportation that’s less convenient, that takes longer and that interferes with a private and comfortable commute?

I’ll tell you why: because the one-person-per-car scenario, however convenient and customary, becomes less of a viable option for daily transportation.

As the economy tanks, as fuel prices fluctuate daily and gas reserves dwindle, as more and more people try to fit a growing number of automobiles into a finite number of parking spaces, or find themselves stuck in gridlocked traffic, walking, biking and taking public transportation will be how nearly everyone gets into, and out of, crowded urban areas.

How does this translate into an argument for subsidized mass transit for PSU students? Within a university, and a city that prides itself on sustainable living, providing incentive and assistance for 27,000 people (the approximate student population at PSU, with more every year) to keep them from driving into the most congested part of the city seems sensible, to say the least.

The bottom line, as always, is: Who will be paying for the subsidy? Will it unfairly serve the needs of some, while penalizing others?

Not really, especially not if costs are equally distributed among all those who might reasonably be expected to contribute, including PSU student fees, with additional funding from the PSU budget and from the city of Portland.

TriMet can do better in terms of the reduced rate they offer. They offer a discounted pass to high school students costing $26 a month, $78 for three months. Do high school students really deserve that much more of a price break than college students? I’m trying to figure this out.

The majority of high school students still live at home, are supported by their parents, and don’t pay any tuition. I still don’t get it. So, hey, TriMet, what have you got against college students, huh? We don’t take up any more room than high school students.

Let’s say TriMet can find a way to be a bit more kindly disposed towards us. The next in line to shell out a little to advance affordable and therefore increased student ridership should be the city of Portland.

Even if just a tiny fraction of the amount of money being spent right this very second on the downtown light rail is to help reduce downtown traffic congestion, then why not use some city money for other endeavors that do the same thing.

Hmm, let’s think. What else might reduce downtown traffic congestion and inadequate parking? Oh, right–providing PSU students (and staff) with greater incentive to use public transportation. This is not just a bratty demand for a handout, I want you to know, PSU contributes over a billion dollars a year to the economy of the city, so the city should certainly be investing in PSU.

Another potential source of subsidy should come from PSU’s annual budget. The recent $25 million contribution to PSU from the Miller Foundation was given with the stipulation that the donation be used to fund sustainability programs.

Would using a portion of that to provide motivation for thousands of people to stop driving cars into a jam-packed metropolitan center, and instead use bio-diesel and electric powered public transit be considered sustainable? Uh-huh, I thought so.

Of course, some of the money should come from students–mostly in the form of the student fees that are built into tuition. For those students that say they don’t use public transportation, so they shouldn’t have to pay for it, I invite you to check out the 90-something clubs and student organizations that are funded by the approximately $12 million dollars a year that come from student fees.

How many of those organizations do we each take a part in? You can’t say “none” if you’re reading this article–that counts as one.

Each group, club, or organization, is allotted some portion of those funds based on a variety of factors, including the number of people that participate. I bet the super-cheap, or free, TriMet pass club would have a LOT of members.

A lot more members than the $175-a-term TriMet pass club, perhaps even some of those students that didn’t ever consider riding TriMet a viable option before.