By Jesse Dolojan, Staff Writer

Last Wednesday, Xavier extended their deal with Cincinnati Metro to allow students free bus passes until the end of the semester to encourage students without vehicles to explore Cincinnati. 

At the beginning of the semester, the Student Government Association (SGA) worked with the Office of Student Involvement (OSI) to reach a deal with Metro allowing students to obtain free bus passes for 30 days after the pass’s activation. 

Junior Philosophy, Politics and the Public major and Vice President of SGA Noelle Delumpa noted that Metro initiated conversations with Xavier to lengthen the free pass period. 

“It’s an effort to increase collaboration between Xavier and Metro, because they really want to build a relationship with Xavier,” Delumpa said. “They’re trying to give us this free option for as long as possible, to gauge engagement with it and see what kind of numbers they’re tracking.”

Delumpa shared that a long term goal for working with Metro is to reduce the cost of Metro tickets for students in half, making them only one dollar. Xavier’s partnership with Metro is part of SGA’s efforts to improve student access to local communities by making transportation available for students without their own vehicle.

Senior chemistry major Brian Huber studied in London his sophomore year, and during his time abroad used the London Underground Train system, called the Tube.

“I know before I went to London, the tube was one thing we had an entire module on,” Huber said. “So to prepare us for being there they taught us all of the routes, and it was very informative and made it very easy for me to make that transition.”

Huber believes incorporating something similar into Manresa may help first-year students feel comfortable using the Metro. 

“There’s definitely a lot of informative stuff discussed during Manresa pertaining to campus, different offices you can utilize and other logistics around campus, like where the buildings are, that kind of stuff,” Huber said. “But, we don’t really mention the Metro, so it’d be pretty easy to be like: here’s a module about Cincinnati and here’s how you can get around Cincinnati.”

Delumpa stressed that SGA is prioritizing public transportation to shopping centers and other areas students are interested in commuting to. 

“A lot of the conversations that SGA have been circling around, when students want to go out, what kind of transportation do they want to use?” Delumpa said. “And after conversations with senators, my roommates, friends and just regular average students, people want to take Ubers or Lyfts.”

SGA has made efforts to connect with both to reach deals with them in the future because students are more interested in using Uber or Lyft than riding the bus. Delumpa stated a deal with either company would take a longer amount of time compared to the deal with Metro due to determining the cost of a deal with them.

Huber stressed that public transportation is a valuable tool, and should not be overlooked by the Xavier community. 

“I think for a lot of people in America the idea of public transportation has a stigma behind it where public transportation is unreliable, it’s not clean or dangerous,” Huber said. “But I can tell you, as someone who’s used public transportation in Europe and in the States, I think it’s super helpful and it’s an underutilized tool.”