Proposed changes to transportation services offered by University of Wisconsin officials will make adjustments to the current regulations on campus parking and the bus system.
Michelle Bacon, spokesperson for UW Transportation Services, said the main adjustments that will increase costs to students are the changes to parking regulations on campus.
She said the price of most of the permits UW provides will increase by $45. The bus systems, she added, will remain free of charge for students.
Student Transportation Board member Laura Checovich said the major adjustments to the bus availability will be the cut of one bus in the 80 route, which will raise the expected wait time for the buses of that route from seven minutes to 12 minutes.
One bus from the 85 bus route will be cut as well, raising the expected wait time for that route from 10 minutes to about 20 minutes.
There will also be a new permit requirement for those parking on campus during the evening hours of 4:30 p.m. to 7 a.m. and on weekends. UW will provide two options for evening parking: a permit for access to a specified parking garage each night for $40 per year and a permit for access to any of the parking lots or garages each night for $125 per year.
Bacon said the changes being made to the transportation offered, specifically the bus system, are meant to impact students as little as possible.
“We are proposing what we think is going to be the option that has the least impact,” Bacon said. “The only expected impact will be that the students will have to do more pre-planning [when using the bus system to travel].”
Bacon added the increased revenue gained from these changes will be used to cover anticipated revenue lost from parking lots and other spaces used by the Transportation Services that will be under construction.
In regards to the implementation process of these changes, Bacon said there are no added expenses expected in making the proposed changes.
She said the only cost UW Transportation Services expects in following through with the adjustments is from communicating the changes to the Metro bus system, which will be a very minimal expense.
Checovich added she expects the changes to the bus system to have very little effect on students because during the popular commuting times, specifically 8 a.m. to 10 a.m., the same level of bus services will be maintained.
“Students have decided that [the bus system] is a priority, so we need to keep the service,” Checovich said. She added the amount of hours the buses are in service is what will be reduced, while the overall hours the bus system is in operation will be kept the same.
Checovich said Transportation Services currently faces a structural deficit of more than $1 million, and that deficit is what the bus adjustments, as well as the increased price and necessity of parking permits, will help address.
