Following a forum at which students aired concerns over campus bus services, Rutgers University Parking and Transportation Services is considering adding buses to certain routes to shorten wait times. But any changes to transportation services depend on funding, said Director Jack Molenaar.
Half of the department's funding comes from the state and the other half comes from the university's budget and student fees. The amount of funding the state will provide this year is as yet undetermined, Molenaar said, and the percentage increase to the student fee is capped. "For us to give more bus service would mean taking money from some other part of the university," he explained.
The total funds for enhancing bus service on the weekends are estimated to be about $256,000, Molenaar told the University's newspaper, the Daily Targum. The article also noted that full-time students pay $127.50 per year for transportation. If the proposed bus service additions are approved, the fee would increase to $136 per year. Despite the increase, students polled by the paper support the added fee.
"We have to submit a request for the transportation fee to be increased each year," Molenaar said. Because the amount of state funding is uncertain for this year, he submitted four different scenarios in his request.
University administrators are set to meet Thursday to discuss the proposed service changes.
