Mobility is a privilege that the majority of us take advantage of in every waking moment of our lives right now. Strolling the streets with pumpkin spice something, jogging in winters that seem inappropriate, even running through the six (or to catch the six) with our collective woes.
Attending UW-Madison means our segregated fees allot a bus pass per student for the entire year as long as that student is enrolled in the university. That means unlimited access to every bus in Metro Transit, which can be replaced for $20 if it gets lost.
Of our segregated fees for the 2015 fiscal year, $4,252,700 was allocated for the ASM Bus Pass Program. For the 43,193 students enrolled in the Fall 2014 semester, the numbers average out to roughly $98.46 per student.
The normal Metro Transit Bus Pass fares for residents accentuate our privilege even further; it costs $58 for a 31-Day Pass and $150 for an EZ Rider Semester Youth Pass for Madison Metropolitan School District students to have unlimited rides throughout the school year.
For $98.46 (per fiscal year), a UW-Madison student gets more value to utilize public transit than an adult resident or a public school student.
I now ask you, the reader, to count how many of your friends didn’t claim their pass from East Campus Mall, a process that takes less than 30 seconds to complete.
The origin of this malaise is near impossible to trace, but the notions of exploration and discovery that are constantly shoved into an idealistic college experience should be encouraged across our campus for students to claim and use their bus passes to explore the city of Madison in a frame otherwise unseen in the brochure.
As we know, a college campus environment is designed in a context of leisure and convenience to give us ease. Though our campus in particular is rather expansive, we can take the 80, 81 and 82 to get us to our destinations. State Street’s food and entertainment options can easily give the impression that our collegiate bubble is appeasing enough to satisfy any desire a student may need.
With these ideas intact, I remember many evenings spent alone traversing the wild terrain for McNuggets … a journey consuming all of 20 minutes of my time that no one on my floor wanted to spare. The familiar golden glow of the McDonald’s on Regent Street was too far from Park Street’s comforts, yet Mifflin Street was never too far for the trappings of suspicious free alcohol.
Dietary failings aside, I’ve been taking the 4 bus from the border of the South Side since last semester; a transition I found unbelievably easy given the fact I could claim a bus pass I already paid for and download BusRadar to use in tandem with Google Maps to get literally anywhere in the city. I’m still routinely questioned about why I chose to live “so far” from everything, when my “so far” equates to 15 minutes travel time in one direction.
Those 15 minutes led to me finding rent at a fraction of the prices in a more diverse area, with a neighborhood feel and an amazing breakfast spot right next to a tattoo parlor down the street from a Famous Dave’s I didn’t know existed. When I added another 10 minutes to the trip, I found the public library where I began teaching music workshops, which is another five minutes walking from the studio where I finished my first album.
Not to mention I finally saw black and brown people in abundance after spending four semesters wondering where everyone was, only to find them a transfer point away.
Trivial as it may seem, my bus pass led to finally discovering an alternative to the cemented gauntlet of a dorm or the sky-high condo prices we’re being swallowed by. Furthermore, it helped me find a piece of this place to call home when I didn’t find it on North Park Street.
We funnel more than $4 million dollars a year into a bus pass program that should be an essential key to unlocking the potential for what you can get out of your Madison experience beyond the textbook. Not claiming what’s already paid for is an avoidable tactic that cheats oneself out of a more enriching experience the city as a whole can offer no matter what your interests may be. The collegiate bubble nurtured me like a security blanket; this mentality sheds faster from some students than others. But from a position of privilege to even walk around this campus, let alone attend classes here, why not surrender one if one has no plans to utilize it in the first place?
I think of the underprivileged Madison citizens who scrape up their ends to use Metro Transit to get through life every time I try to plan an evening move only to find that someone I know never claimed their bus pass. If we can obtain the data on how many passes are left unclaimed every semester, it could prove very resourceful to provide an option to donate one’s pass to Madison residents from lower socioeconomic backgrounds if a student finds no use for the bus pass or has other reliable means of transportation to be a functional student. This is not to strip a student of a pass they pay for; it creates an opportunity for a small act of generosity to potentially change the lives of others.
No matter where you stand on that suggestion, I encourage everyone who hasn’t claimed their bus pass to do that and go somewhere they’ve never been in the city. It’s a small step to deconstructing what people conceive as “too far” while discovering the joy of what another 15 minutes can bring to change a whole experience in Madison.
What’s your take on utilizing university bus passes? Do you agree or disagree with Michael? We’d like to hear from you. Please send all feedback to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
