If the NFTA wants UB to join its University Unlimited Program, it has to sweeten the deal. The plan would give UB students a free pass for Metro buses and the light rail. UB is the only major Buffalo-area college or university to not be a part of the program. That's because the NFTA wants to charge UB a fee for every undergraduate student. But that's neither fair nor practical - though a few thousand students would use the plan, UB shouldn't be expected to pay for all 27,000 students to use it.
The plan is relatively inexpensive: it costs only $25 per student, per semester, or $50 for the academic year. The problem with the NFTA offer, however, is that it would require every student to pay this fee. All of a sudden the program does not seem so cheap, adding up to $1.3 million per year, a cost a state school like UB must transfer to students in the form of more fees. This addition would make an already-expensive transportation fee jump from $530 to $580 for every student, even for those who would not take advantage of such a program.
Other prominent Buffalo schools have signed on to the offer, including Canisius, Medaille, and Buffalo State, but students at those schools have many different needs than a UB student. Those three are smaller single-campus schools in the city, with a large portion of their students living within the primary NFTA route map. Canisius and Medaille students have subway stations almost next door to their dorms, while Buffalo State students have extensive bus service at their doorstep on Elmwood Avenue.
By nature of our location, UB has very restricted NFTA access. True, the University Station on South Campus is a major hub for the NFTA, with the subway and several major bus routes stopping there, but that loop is easy walking distance for dorm residents in the Triads and maybe Goodyear and Clement Halls only. Ellicott, Governors, and on-campus apartment residents - a majority of UB on-campus residents - have no such convenient NFTA service. Only one bus, Route 44, which runs from Lockport to University Loop, provides hourly service.
UB's large commuter population also contributes to the issue. A majority of UB commuter students drive in from the suburbs, where NFTA service consistently is lacking. Even if service were offered, so many of these commuters have cars it would be hard to expect even a third of those commuters to decide to use the bus.
It would be a credit to both the NFTA and UB to have the free Metro pass program in place. Increased accessibility to public transportation for those who need it is a tremendous advantage for UB students. A long-term stalemate on any issue could kill a program that could help many UB students.
In order to make its plan viable, the NFTA should also expand its service to the UB campuses dramatically, and even into Buffalo suburbs like Tonawanda and Amherst. In the short term, it should realize that it cannot expect UB to pay a fee for every student; a much smaller percentage of the student body is able to take advantage of the service compared to other University Unlimited schools.
