“*It seems like a majority of the people I see on the bus every day are from UWM or Marquette.*”
–Samantha Robinson, sophomore

Commuting students from the Waukesha or Kenosha/Racine areas no longer get a free ride to and from campus due to a contract change effective May 16.

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Student Association (SA) recently repealed its contract with Coach USA in order to cut costs. The alternatives for students who take that bus on a regular basis, however, may not be as cost-efficient as they had hoped.

The SA, along with the Parking & Transit department, decided it would be best to save approximately $90,000 in segregated fees by changing the contract. This fee covered student riders as well as inclusion of the UWM campus as a stop on the Waukesha and Kenosha/Racine routes.

With the new contract, students will need to pay a $1.75 fare per ride. This $3.50 a day could cause students or faculty to find a new way to get to campus.

During the busiest times of the semester, as many as 400 students and faculty members have been reported to take Coach USA as their desired transportation to and from campus with their UPASS or commuter value pass.

“It’s upsetting,” said sophomore Samantha Robinson. “It seems like a majority of the people I see on the bus every day are from UWM or Marquette.”

Coach USA was surprised by this change.

“We were caught off guard,” said representative Tom Dickleman.

According to Director of University Architects/Planning and Transportation Claude Schuttey, nearly 14,000 UPasses and commuter value passes were handed out to students and faculty in the spring semester. The impact of this change on the UPass program is yet to be determined.

While the contract is not valid between UWM and Coach USA, the Waukesha and Kenosha/Racine buses will continue to stop at UWM.

Dickleman is hopeful in Coach USA’s future relations with UWM. “Maybe we can put our heads together… hopefully we can come to a possible solution,” said Dickleman

Schuttey, however, agrees with the SA and the new changes. “In order to keep segregated fees down, we’ll keep the contract as is,” he said.

SA President Rob Grover and Legislative Affairs representative Tyler Kristopeit were unavailable at press time.

Alternate parking is available or transit options are available for students who do not wish to continue riding with Coach USA:

Pavillion parking, located on Downer Ave., is always available at $.70 per hour.

The 44U from State Fair Park, the 40U from I-94 and College Ave, or the 21 from Mayfair Mall will be available and accept UPASS.

The Capitol/Humboldt and Veterans/McKinley UPark busses will not be in service during the summer, UWinteriM and spring break sessions but will be available during the fall and spring semesters.

The Sciences and Cunningham parking lots will also be expanding student parking availability by about 30 spaces per lot.

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