Student Senators Lobby for Subway Fare Discount

With a subway price hike looming, the University Senate’s Student Affairs Committee is working to protect students’ wallets.

SAC plans to coordinate with local universities to negotiate a price break for students with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. A previous effort to promote discounted cards sold in a Lerner Hall vending machine achieved lackluster results.

“It is still in the beginning stages, so we have not done a lot of collaborative work,” said University Senator Patrick Callahan, School of Public Health ’08. The committee hopes to work with New York University and City College, among other institutions, he said.

The current reduced-fare MetroCards sell for $19.60, a two percent discount from those sold at stations. The price cut was expected to if more students used the machine.

According to Honey Sue Fishman, Columbia executive director of business, it is Vending Services, and not the MTA, that provides the discount. In peak months the machine distributes nearly 200 MetroCards, according to Fishman, having a very slight impact on the student body.

“I didn’t even know about it,” Sarah Sherer-Kohlburn, BC ’10, said.

In the meantime, SAC intends to continue to appear at the MTA public hearings held throughout November.

At a Nov. 9 hearing, Callahan addressed the MTA and described Columbia’s willingness to assist with administrative work associated with the price cut.

Currently, students receive reduced subway fares up to grade 12. The discount only applies when school is in session. It provides for three trips a day, and cards are sold by the school. The committee hopes to provide college students with similar discounts.

The costs of public transportation place a burden “on students who already have tight budgets,” Callahan said. “This creates a system of trade-offs, forcing us to weigh the costs of leaving our apartments, thus preventing us from enriching ourselves with what NYC has to offer. ... Some of us are paying over $60,000 per year to attend Columbia, and every little rate increase hurts us, whether it comes from Columbia or the MTA.”

Yet some don’t believe that college students are entitled to these same discounts. Elizabeth Fowler, BC ’10, noted that while students up to the 12th grade do not live at school, college students usually live on or near campus.

Callahan said that SAC will continue to lobby the MTA. At the December board meeting, the MTA is expected to consider various rate proposals and determine which, if any, to adopt.

Keren Daskin can be reached at news@columbiaspectator.com.