U. Nebraska-Omaha expands Metro Transit ridership program

Beginning Saturday, Jan. 2, 2016, University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) students, staff and faculty will be able to use their university ID as a Metro Transit bus pass.

The expansion of UNO’s popular MavRide program will provide bus access to more than 15,000 students and more than 3,000 faculty and staff. No special activation will be required for those wanting to use their MavCARD; instead, passengers will only need to swipe their card to ride.

Metro will accept MavCARDs belonging to all faculty, staff and active students at any time buses are running (with this change, MavRide will now cover Sundays and time between semesters). Students are considered active if they are currently taking classes or registered for the upcoming semester.

MavRide is an initiative started by Student Government that, in partnership with Metro Transit, has provided a set number of physical bus passes to students on request since 2011. In January 2015, the program expanded with funding from UNO Parking Services, allowing faculty and staff to activate their MavCARDs as bus passes.

All told, Metro has provided more than 266,000 rides to UNO students, staff and faculty participating in the program. The upcoming MavRide expansion is jointly funded  by UNO’s Student Government and UNO Parking Services, with existing funds from their current budgets.

Emergency Ride Home
Students, staff or faculty who plan to start busing to campus can take advantage of the Emergency Ride Home program, which offers free taxi service in the event of an unexpected emergency for registered commuters who travel to UNO by bus (MavRide), ride share (Zimride), bike or walk to campus.

A Leader in Sustainability
The 2016 MavRide expansion marks a major step forward in following the recommendations laid out in UNO’s Sustainability Master Plan. The document, announced in early 2015, identifies ways to implement new policies and programs that are environmentally friendly, socially responsible and financially feasible.

The announcement also comes less than two months after another significant development: the hiring of UNO’s first Sustainability Coordinator, Sarah Burke, who will facilitate the implementation of the Sustainability Master Plan and help support sustainability-based programs, events, and research activities.