After a free Penn Transit ride carried over 700 students to the Philadelphia airport before Thanksgiving, the Undergraduate Assembly is contemplating a similar service for those going home for the December holidays.
But the potentially high cost of a winter break service is forcing UA members to look elsewhere for funding.
For the winter break service, the UA is considering chartering two buses that will run every half hour to lessen overflow and better accommodate students' flight times.
The body may also provide buses from the airport back to Penn's campus in January.
Although the Thanksgiving bus service provided students with a free ride to the airport -- which costs a $25 flat rate by taxi -- the service came at a price: The UA allocated $765 of its $1.3 million budget to charter the buses.
The UA is working with Penn Transit officials to redistribute the costs of chartering buses.
"We hope that Penn Transit picks up the idea as their project from now on, so the burden doesn't fall on the UA body to provide this service to students," UA Chairwoman and College senior Rachel Fersh said.
The UA plans to issue a schoolwide survey to gauge student interest in a free Penn Transit bus service to the Philadelphia International Airport for winter break.
Based on responses to the survey, the UA will determine whether it will work to provide the transportation service.
UA members added that because students were so enthusiastic about the Thanksgiving program, University officials should be willing to continue it.
"I hope that the University ends up paying for this because it's such a successful program," UA Vice Chairman of External Affairs and Wharton and College junior Brett Thalmann said. "We're going to keep working with [Penn Transit]. They've been very responsive so far."
Thalmann said that the Thanksgiving bus service attracted more students than the UA had predicted, and that it planned to accomodate more students for December.
The UA had planned for no more than 600 students on Penn Transit buses, but 714 took advantage of the free transportation.
All of the buses -- which ran hourly starting the Tuesday before Thanksgiving from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. and all day Wednesday -- were filled to their capacity of 35 students. There was so much overflow from the first available bus that Penn Transit officials sent a second bus for students.
Fersh added that whether the bus program will continue depends on student responses to the UA survey.
"Everyone in the practice of deleting messages about the UA may want to rethink that practice," Fersh said.
Though the general response was enthusiastic, some students said they were not able to use the Thanksgiving transportation because the bus schedule did not match their schedules.
"I thought it was a great idea ... but the times were inconvenient for me," College freshman Kevin Davenport said.
Because students have responded so enthusiastically, the UA plans to provide free Penn Transit rides to the airport in the future.
"I think this is probably one of the best student-government initiatives because it seems to help the most students in the most tangible way," UA member and College sophomore Jason Karsh said. " It's going to be a hit if we do it again."
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