VANGUARD EDITORIAL

Portland State, you should be proud of yourself. A recent Portland State survey of commuting habits found that 40 percent of students surveyed utilized Portland’s public transportation options to get to campus—up from 39 percent in 2009. This represents a nearly 10 percent rise in mass transit use among PSU students over the last decade.

Surely these are statistics that have the power to give us that warm-and-fuzzy feeling in the deepest part of our eco-friendly hearts. We’re making progress and effecting change at the local level. We’re doing our part to combat climate change. We’re hitting numbers that, if this were the major league of mass transit use, would keep us in the majors and prevent a relegation to a farm-team in Palookaville.

But couldn’t we do better? Imagine the bump in pride we would experience if we broke the .500 mark—that’s 50 percent for those not familiar with sports lingo—in mass transit use.

Students have the necessary means to reach that mark. Each term, PSU’s Transportation and Parking Services office offers the FlexPass, an all-zone TriMet pass valid for the entire term. During winter term, FlexPasses were sold for $180, which saved students almost $30 per month from the full cost of an all-zone pass. Over 4,000 students took advantage of this discount last term, according to a TAPS spokesperson.

The FlexPass is available to students at a discounted rate because both TriMet and PSU help cut the out-of-pocket cost for students. TriMet sells the passes to PSU at a discount and from there, TAPS subsidizes the cost of the pass by taking a slice of the revenue it brings in from parking fees and applying it to the FlexPass.

A popular misconception is that TAPS only offers a limited number of FlexPasses; however, this is not the case. Instead, their sale is limited in time. The transportation office stops selling them after the second week of the term because they are no longer considered economical.

In all, the FlexPass is a great deal for PSU and has been a step in the right direction for those utilizing mass transit to and from campus. It has gotten us to this 40 percent benchmark. However, perhaps it is time for further steps to be taken to increase the benefits of the FlexPass. Would more students take advantage of it if the price was brought down? Can a pass be prorated according to when it is purchased during a term?

Perhaps there is a way to further reduce the price of the FlexPass. As it now stands, students must be enrolled in no less than three credits to be eligible to purchase one of the passes. But could an adjustment to this policy help? Could TAPS increase this requirement to six credits? The funds saved from not having to subsidize a pass purchased by a student taking just one class may further reduce the cost to a student enrolled at least half-time.

In a 2009 commuting study, students suggested that increasing the discount on TriMet passes, along with improvements to transit service and connectivity, would be incentives to choosing an alternative to driving to campus. Since then, TriMet’s Green and Yellow Lines have quite literally been brought to PSU’s front door. Perhaps it’s time to take these suggestions about cost into consideration so we can get more students through that door.

Virginia Vickery Editor-in-Chief Corie Charnley News Editor  

Nicholas Kula Arts & Culture Editor Richard Oxley Opinion Editor

Robert Britt Sports Editor Kristin Pugmire Copy Chief