Environmental Systems Management major Emily Wortman, the millionth rider, was greeted at the campus’s Library Circle bus stop with the Marching Lumberjacks and a group of representatives from Humboldt State, the Arcata City Council and the Humboldt Transit Authority.
Since its inception in fall 2007, the JackPass program has saved participants thousands of dollars on gas and maintaining personal vehicles.
“It’s fantastic. I hope more schools find ways to adopt programs like this. The really great thing about the university partnership with the local transit agencies has been the increase in service for all users, not just students,” said Aaron Antrim, principal consultant with Trillium Transit Services and a former HSU student, who was a member of the student group that devised the original concept for the JackPass.
In addition to offering students free rides throughout the county, the JackPass has considerably eased parking issues on the 144-acre campus. “The pass makes much of Arcata and the central county into a viable park-and-ride network,” Chief of University Police Tom Dewey said. “Motorists headed south to Arcata can use many free all-day parking areas in Valley West and at other locations along Arcata transit’s ‘Gold Route.’ Commuters headed north have access to free parking areas in the Sunny Brae vicinity and other bus stops along the ‘Red Route.’”
Funding for the JackPass comes from the Instructionally Related Activities fee, which students approved with a vote in 2006. Currently, the IRA fee is up for another vote, with funding for the JackPass program among the top issues. A boost in funding would not only ensure the long-term viability of the JackPass, but also potentially bring wireless internet and assistive technology such as a global-positioning-system-based announcement system that would offer audible alerts to passengers as the bus makes each stop. The online student vote is set for Dec. 7, 8 and 9.
For more information, click on HSU’s Parking & Commuter Services webpage: http://www.humboldt.edu/parking/bus_info.php