Cleveland State University Working to Bring Back U-Pass RTA Program in New Optional Form Following Backlash

Cleveland State University Credit: Mark Oprea

Cleveland State University President Laura Bloomberg last week announced that the school would be ending the U-Pass program, which provided RTA passes to all students paid for by a nominal fee of $57.50 per semester charged to every student taking at least one credit hour, effective at the end of August.

The backlash to the prospect of students looking at $95 a month for full-freight RTA passes was swift and immediate.

Students, many of whom don’t own cars or can’t afford monthly parking passes, criticized the move, which CSU framed as a necessary cut due to state budget changes. (DeWine’s press secretary today said that the school’s reading of the law was “ridiculous,” while reports noted it was the only university in Ohio to leave the U-Pass program.)

Meanwhile, Clevelanders for Public Transit, the local advocacy group, launched a petition that quickly garnered thousands of signatures.

“Eliminating this program will have a detrimental impact on students,” CPT wrote. “Class attendance, access to internships, campus involvement, and student retention will suffer.”

The pressure seems to have worked, as Bloomberg announced this week that CSU is working with RTA to bring back the U-Pass program in a new, optional form.

“We are now working toward a solution where students will have the choice whether or not they would like to opt in to the U-Pass fee,” she wrote in a letter to the CSU community on Tuesday. “Students who choose not to opt in will no longer be charged a U-Pass fee on their semester bill. This will result in financial savings for our students who do not use the U-Pass.”

The program was widely popular and helped CSU manage its limited spaces for cars, the upshot being “lessened demand for on-campus parking,” the university’s webpage read in 2008.

RTA, for its part, said in a statement that it “continues to collaborate with CSU to find a solution for their students.”

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