Student budget concerns over campus transportation were addressed at a University of Wisconsin student government meeting Wednesday when the Student Services Finance Committee heard a budget presentation from Student Transportation Program Board members.
The STPB proposed budget for the 2013 fiscal year amounted to $4,219,700, a five percent-or between $150,000 and $200,000- increase from last year’s budget.
Wilson said the hike can be attributed to an increase in bus ridership, which includes an increase in student use of the service.
“We are very happy about [the increase in ridership], and we want people to ride the bus – we want people to use their passes,” said SSFC Vice Chair Chase Wilson, who is also a member of the transportation board.
Wilson also said students make up the highest number of metro users, generating nearly three million buss pass uses in an academic year.
Associated Students of Madison Transportation Program Advisor Margaret Bergamini added that close to 50 percent of Madison Metro’s ridership is comprised of UW faculty and students.
“This is a status quo year for Madison Metro; it is difficult to get public funding in the U.S.,” Bergamini said.
Wilson said this is a result of budget cuts at all levels of the government, which have meant it is increasingly harder to get funding for federal and state transportation and that all consumers – including students – will face increased costs.
The budget for SafeCab, a complimentary service to students late at night, however, has decreased $20,000, which also reflects a change in ridership, Wilson said. While ridership for SafeCabs have decreased, Wilson said STPB has no plans to discontinue the service.
He added that the STPB budget reflects usage, so there are no additional charges for upkeep. STPB is still hoping for a large-scale study on UW bus systems so it can make changes for next year, Wilson said.
During the hearing, STPB also proposed a decrease in advertising and promotion costs for next year. The board intends to pull advertisement for bus passes from the popular satirical newspaper, The Onion, and instead opt to advertise via UW email list servers.
In the presentation of the workers’ compensation line of the budget, Bergamini said the hours students put in distributing the cards is necessary especially with the increasing demand for bus passes. STPB employs students at $9.19 an hour to distribute the buss passes.
“Never have we had a site closed because no one was there, and hopefully [we] never will,” she added.
The compensation piece of the budget will remain as it has been in the last couple of years, if passed as proposed. SSFC will make a decision on STPB’s overall budget at the next SSFC meeting, which will be held March 18.
SSFC also discussed committee Chair Sarah Neibart’s meeting with Interim Chancellor David Ward in which she talked with him about the committee’s non-allocable budget recommendations.
Neibart said she told Ward “this is what we recommend, (and) this is what students can pay.” Neibart met with Ward last Wednesday to report SSFC’s budget for the year.
Neibart said she is uncertain how the chancellor will respond but is prepared to appeal to the Board of Regents if Ward overturns SSFC’s decision. The committee anticipates a response from Ward next Wednesday.
