ACC Board approves bus pass pilot program

ACC Board approves bus pass pilot program

By Community Impact Newspaper Staff Saturday, 10 October 2009

Starting in January, Austin Community College students, faculty and staff will have a new reason to ride mass transit to school: it will be free.

The ACC District Board of Trustees voted Oct. 5 to approve a pilot program that will provide free Capital Metro bus passes to those who work or study at ACC campuses. The initiative, called Green Pass, is intended to help students get to class, ease parking congestion and reduce ACC’s carbon footprint while gathering important ridership data.

“This is just one example of our commitment to minimizing ACC’s impact on the environment,” Andy Kim, the college’s director of environmental stewardship, said. “We appreciate the vision of the board of trustees and the enthusiastic support from students and employees.”

ACC will launch the Green Pass initiative for the spring 2010 semester. Money from a parking fee increase that started this fall will pay for the pilot, which is budgeted for $250,000.

College officials will give Capital Metro passes to students, faculty and staff, who will be able to use bus service at no cost starting in January. Passes for rail service will be distributed when the MetroRail goes online, which is expected to occur sometime during the first quarter of 2010.

In an agreement reached with Capital Metro, the college will be charged a discounted rate per ride. The goal of the pilot program is to collect ridership data, gauge interest in free use of mass transit and assess the need for new routes.

For details about Green Pass or other ACC sustainability initiatives, visit austincc.edu/sustainability.