In the beginning of the fall semester, Point Park University finally joined the U-Pass program, which allows students to travel for free around the city on buses, the T, and even the Incline.
Pittsburgh has a lot to offer, with museums, live events, and even just shopping, there is always somewhere to go.
According to the Point Park transportation and parking page, “Point Park University has partnered with Pittsburgh Regional Transit (PRT) to provide fare-free rides to all full-time undergraduate students in on-ground programs. Through the Ready2Ride app on your mobile device, you can ride anywhere PRT travels and accepts mobile ticketing.”
This program offers so many opportunities for students. The bus fare is $2.75 per ride, but are all students aware of this?
Sophomore forensic science major Cody Jones said he did not know about the free bus passes.
“I had no idea about this program,” Jones said. “I wish I would have known sooner; it would have saved me a lot of money.”
According to the Point Park home page, 63% of undergraduate students live off-campus.
For freshmen, this could be implemented in the university life class that all students must take.
The U–Pass program was first introduced to colleges around Pittsburgh in 2016. Point Park University was the last college to join the U-pass program alongside Carlow, Carnegie Mellon, Chatham, Duquesne and the University of Pittsburgh. Through this, students could pay a discounted fee of $1 on the weekends. Some universities transitioned to a “free” system before others did where students could scan their IDs, like Pitt.
One of the reasons that Point Park took so long to join the program was that they were worried that joining the program would increase the tuition rate for the University.
This year, there was an increase of 2.45% in tuition to accommodate the new program.
Some students know about it but only use this program sometimes.
Amerace Martin, a senior marketing major, said, “I use it occasionally when I do not want to bring my car down into town; it is a nice thing to have for students to explore the city.”
This is a good tool for any student who wants to explore the city or who lives off campus and needs to get to classes. Especially right now during the winter months, if you do not feel like driving, you can take a bus.
Others have not needed or even used the program yet, but they still have some opinions on it.
Senior forensic science major Bethany Venal said, “I have not used it myself, but I have heard a lot of complaints about the system, an entire revamp of the system seems necessary going forward.”
If you have any questions or want to learn more, contact the U-Pass administrator, Desmond McCoy at [email protected], or visit the Office of Student Life on the seventh floor of the Student Center.
