Cleveland State University Reinstates U-Pass Program in Optional Form Following Backlash

Cleveland State decided to double back on their plans to cancel the U-Pass, a beloved transit card that gives full-time students unlimited free rides on the RTA for roughly $58 a semester. Credit: Mark Oprea

In late July, Cleveland State University announced that it would be ending a transit perk their students had enjoyed since they began petitioning for it in 2003. The U-Pass, the “free” RTA card offered to almost every student, would be going away in August.

Students, to put it mildly, were irate. Instead of a full RTA pass for the low fee of $58 billed to their accounts every semester, those who still wanted to—or had to—ride the bus or train to class would have to buy RTA’s normal, unsubsidized monthly pass, which would cost $380 per semester.

“I can’t even imagine how this will impact disabled and international students with no other mode of transportation,” one commented on CSU’s Instagram page. “This is an awful decision for the university to make.”

“If you care about your students,” another wrote, “you would bring back the U-Pass!!!!”

On Wednesday, after two weeks of talks with RTA and considering new so-called “state regulations,” Cleveland State officials doubled back on their decision to toss out the beloved U-Pass and announced a new version of the discounted transit card that 40 percent of the school had already been using on the regular.

Starting this fall, students will be able to choose to pay $57.50 per semester for a pass, a fee that will no longer be automatically included in every full-time student’s tuition. Another change: Only full-time students will qualify, though the school told those who don’t qualify to speak to a school representative to explore other options.

The about-face, CSU acknowledged, was driven by the reaction of its community.

“University leadership is so thankful to CSU students who shared their feedback regarding CSU’s participation in the U-Pass program,” a statement released Wednesday read.

“Their input was invaluable as University leaders worked to find solutions that meet the needs of students who do use transit services and students who do not,” it said.

Roughly 13,400 students enrolled at Cleveland State for the spring semester, which means some 5,360 of them rely or relied on transit to get to campus and to return home after class hours.

Two petitions to reinstate the U-Pass run by Clevelanders For Public Transit since July 30, the day of the cancelation, garnered more than 8,000 signatures.

“CPT was glad to be able to channel the organized outrage of the Vikings student community to protect the transit-access of the university’s most vulnerable students,” CPT member Chris Martin told Scene in a text.

“It’s been our most successful letter writing campaign to date,” he said.

A spokesperson for the RTA deferred to a statement made August 6, which hasn’t yet confirmed the revised U-Pass agreement is finalized. “We do not yet have a signed agreement with CSU, but we anticipate one coming,” they said in an email.

But for now, news of the doubling back has calmed students who had been panicking about how to pay for the RTA’s normal, $95 monthly pass.

“I think all this just shows how much the school relies on” the pass, Michael Quigley, 22, a senior mechanical engineering major who lives in West Park, told Scene. “We’re a commuter school. We’re coming from Lakewood, Cleveland Heights—all kinds of places. I mean, we’re just middle class college students.”

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