It has been announced that ASU’s Parking and Transit Services will begin charging students for the U-Pass. For the past four years, it has been a free program, but with the addition of the light rail and also with the new fare structure for Valley Metro, they couldn’t justify keeping it as a free program. From last year (July 2008), University faculty and staff have had to pay for their U-Passes, and so it was inevitable that students would have to pay at some point.
But in this time of change, I’ve been doing a little bit of thinking on the new pricing scheme. To summarize, the card will now cost $40 for a semester (August-December or January-May) or $80 for the entire year (August-May). If you’re taking a summer class and require a pass earlier, then you can do that (still paying $40 or $80, depending on what you want).
From 1 July 2009, an all-day local pass (local bus + light rail) is $3.50 if purchased at a fare vending machine. To justify spending $40 on a semester pass, one would have to use the bus and/or light rail 12 days (i.e. purchase 12 one-day passes) before spending more than $40. If one were to buy the yearlong pass, that figure is 23 days (i.e. purchase 23 one-day passes).
Yes, this is a shock that this program now costs money, but if one is going to ride the light rail practically every day (as I do), this is an incredible bargain. It would be really worthwhile if, during the semester, Metro doesn’t use any one-car trains…
Food for thought.
-Edward Jensen