Bus should remain free

Last fall, the Undergraduate Assembly unveiled one of its most popular initiatives in recent years: a free shuttle bus for transporting students to the airport. Seven-hundred fourteen students took the bus over two days before Thanksgiving and more than 1,766 used the bus to leave school before winter break.

Even more important than the services' popularity, Penn's student government was able to demonstrate a concrete accomplishment that was useful to the vast majority of students.

But good things don't last forever.

For spring break, the UA once again announced it would be providing bus service; but, for the first time, students would have to fork over money to get on the bus: $3, to be exact. And while $3 is not a lot of money, especially when compared to a $25 cab ride, everyone knows that students are much more attracted to anything that doesn't come with a price tag.

That being said, 780 students still took the bus on the first Thursday, Friday and Saturday of break, which was about enough to pay for providing the busing. But a free bus would provide enough incentive to outweigh the convenience of a taxi, and, since students already paying $32,364 in tuition and fees to this University this year, the money should not be that hard to find.

And while the UA did students a great favor by first providing this innovative and valuable service, the burden of coming up with the money -- even if it would be a comparatively small part of its budget -- should not lie on the shoulders of our student government.

In fact, the University has an entire department to do the job: Penn Transit.

Currently, Penn Transit operates a number of bus lines around Penn's campus during weekday evenings and shuttle services throughout the night. However, these services don't offer much utility for the majority of students who do not reside on the fringes of campus or beyond. A bus ride to the airport before and after breaks, however, is a service from which nearly all Penn students can benefit.

And as far back as December, UA Chairwoman and College senior Rachel Fersh told The Daily Pennsylvanian, "We hope that Penn Transit picks up the idea as their project from now on." But while Penn Transit already has a fleet of buses to do the job, UA vice-Chairman Brett Thalmann said that the organization told the student-government body that it did not have room in its budget for the foreseeable future.

Yet, seeing the overwhelming response to the busing service so far, Penn Transit should find the money. And with $14 million in expenses this fiscal year for the department, it's hard to believe that Penn Transit couldn't afford to run buses to the airport that cost $700 per day.

And, if it doesn't, the Undergraduate Assembly -- which has used its contingency fund to pay for bus service to date -- should continue to push the University to secure the funding for holiday shuttles on a permanent basis.

A $3 fare to the airport is certainly the cheapest option around, but the University should pick up where the UA left off and encourage as many students as possible to take the bus.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.