Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Ending Fresno CC Free Bus Program Shouldn't Be an Option
Bill McEwen updated website photo 2024
By Bill McEwen, News Director
Published 5 years ago on
February 15, 2020

Share

Fresno City College’s popular free student bus program must be saved.
And I expect that it will be saved — if everyone puts a little skin and leadership into the game.

Portrait of GV Wire News Director Bill McEwen
Bill McEwen
Opinion
The program, which began as a pilot for the fall 2017 semester, benefits students, our community, and the Valley’s notoriously polluted air.
Moreover, the bus service is popular with students. According to the college’s “data dashboard,” nearly 8,000 different students rode a FAX bus for free from the program’s inception through December 2019. And those students totaled more than 1 million rides.

By All Accounts, Program Is a Success

“You can see the value,” says Fresno City College President Carole Goldsmith. “We have students who use the bus to get to school, to get to work, and to take their kids to the doctor.”
According to city records, FAX billed the State Center Community College District $276,805 for student, faculty, and staff rides during the 2018-19 school year.
Unquestionably, the loss of this service would result in more students missing classes or even dropping out.
In a city with Fresno’s entrenched poverty, it’s a program we — the community writ large — can’t afford to lose. Every student who exits Fresno City College with a certified skill uplifts our economy. So does every student who transfers with an associate’s degree to a four-year university.

Time to Seek New Funding Sources

So, why is the bus service on the chopping block?

Portrait of Fresno City College President Carole Goldsmith
You can see the value. We have students who use the bus to get to school, to get to work, and to take their kids to the doctor.” — Fresno City College President Carole Goldsmith
It has been funded from campus parking revenue designated for other uses, including maintaining parking lots. With that budget squeezed beyond its limit, something has to give.
That’s understandable.
Less understandable was State Center’s ham-handed messaging to students last month that the program would end in June. Rather than upsetting students reliant on FAX, district leaders should have identified funding months ago to continue the service.

Air District Funding Is Available

For starters, Valley Air District officials say the program is eligible for — and likely would receive — $30,000 in yearly grant funding. (And that begs the question of why Fresno CC didn’t tap this source from the beginning.)
In addition, the air district has a large pot of Assembly Bill 617 funds for efforts that reduce air pollution in disadvantaged communities. As many Fresno CC students live in neighborhoods with heavy pollution burdens, it appears that the air district can provide a lot more than the base $30,000 grant.
For argument’s sake, let’s pencil in $60,000 from the air district for the 2020-2021 school year. That’s one-fifth, more or less, of what is needed to keep the service.
Just as this program has been great for students, it also has boosted FAX ridership. The way things have worked, FAX bills Fresno City College $1.10 for every ride up to a maximum of $48 a month per “unique” student. And, FAX knows who is riding because students must swipe their Fresno CC identification cards to jump on board.

Valley Air District officials say the program is eligible for — and likely would receive — $30,000 in yearly grant funding. (And that begs the question of why Fresno CC didn’t tap this source from the beginning.) 
How about FAX shave that $1.10 a ride, which is their bulk rate, to a buck or 90 cents? FAX also could help State Center find grants beyond the air district. I bet a local healthcare provider — can you say Kaiser Permanente? — would be interested in helping.

Students Pay $5 for Pass. At $10, It’s Still a Great Deal.

As I said, everyone should have some skin in the game. For the last three years, students have paid $5 for an Associated Students ID card that provides access to the Ram Pantry food cupboard and free bus ridership. It was a bargain at $5 and it would still be a bargain for $10. Add the extra $5 to the kitty to help pay for the free bus rides.
Finally, State Center and Fresno CC leaders should announce ASAP that the bus passes will continue and then nail down the funding.
Leaders are expected to solve problems. Not push trouble downhill onto the backs of students.
Anyone can cut a program. One reason our leaders are paid the big bucks is to ensure that successful programs such as this one are spared the guillotine.

DON'T MISS

What to Know About Pam Bondi, Trump’s New Pick for Attorney General

DON'T MISS

North Korean Leader Says Past Diplomacy Only Confirmed US Hostility

DON'T MISS

Democrats Strike Deal to Get More Biden Judges Confirmed Before Congress Adjourns

DON'T MISS

Newsom Gaslights on Potential Gas Price Hikes in Fresno Visit

DON'T MISS

Automakers to Trump: Please Require Us to Sell Electric Vehicles

DON'T MISS

President Biden Welcomes 2024 NBA Champion Boston Celtics to White House

DON'T MISS

Ohtani Makes History With 3rd MVP, Judge Claims 2nd AL Honor

DON'T MISS

Trump Chooses Pam Bondi for Attorney General Pick After Gaetz Withdraws

DON'T MISS

Average Rate on a 30-Year Mortgage in the US Rises to Highest Level Since July

DON'T MISS

Cutting in Line? American Airlines’ New Boarding Tech Might Stop You at Now Over 100 Airports

UP NEXT

How About an Honest Conversation About the Range of Light Monument Proposal?

UP NEXT

How Trump Can Earn a Place in History That He Did Not Expect

UP NEXT

Demography Drives Destiny and Right Now California Is Losing

UP NEXT

Defining Deviancy Down. And Down. And Down.

UP NEXT

How Three Trump Policy Decrees Could Affect California Farmers

UP NEXT

Donald Trump Is Already Starting to Fail

UP NEXT

I Can’t Wait for Matt Gaetz’s Confirmation Hearings

UP NEXT

Let the Games Begin: 2026 Campaign for CA Governor Looms

UP NEXT

Why Trump’s Deportations Will Drive Up Your Grocery Bill

UP NEXT

Dems Still Dominate California, but Their Voters Have Drifted to the Right

Bill McEwen,
News Director
Bill McEwen is news director and columnist for GV Wire. He joined GV Wire in August 2017 after 37 years at The Fresno Bee. With The Bee, he served as Opinion Editor, City Hall reporter, Metro columnist, sports columnist and sports editor through the years. His work has been frequently honored by the California Newspapers Publishers Association, including authoring first-place editorials in 2015 and 2016. Bill and his wife, Karen, are proud parents of two adult sons, and they have two grandsons. You can contact Bill at 559-492-4031 or at Send an Email

Newsom Gaslights on Potential Gas Price Hikes in Fresno Visit

2 hours ago

Automakers to Trump: Please Require Us to Sell Electric Vehicles

3 hours ago

President Biden Welcomes 2024 NBA Champion Boston Celtics to White House

3 hours ago

Ohtani Makes History With 3rd MVP, Judge Claims 2nd AL Honor

3 hours ago

Trump Chooses Pam Bondi for Attorney General Pick After Gaetz Withdraws

3 hours ago

Average Rate on a 30-Year Mortgage in the US Rises to Highest Level Since July

4 hours ago

Cutting in Line? American Airlines’ New Boarding Tech Might Stop You at Now Over 100 Airports

4 hours ago

MLB Will Test Robot Umpires at 13 Spring Training Ballparks Hosting 19 Teams

4 hours ago

Death Toll in Gaza From Israel-Hamas War Passes 44,000, Palestinian Officials Say

5 hours ago

Jussie Smollett’s Conviction in 2019 Attack on Himself Is Overturned

5 hours ago

What to Know About Pam Bondi, Trump’s New Pick for Attorney General

NEW YORK — Pam Bondi, the former Florida attorney general, was chosen Thursday by Donald Trump to serve as U.S. attorney general hours after...

25 minutes ago

25 minutes ago

What to Know About Pam Bondi, Trump’s New Pick for Attorney General

1 hour ago

North Korean Leader Says Past Diplomacy Only Confirmed US Hostility

1 hour ago

Democrats Strike Deal to Get More Biden Judges Confirmed Before Congress Adjourns

2 hours ago

Newsom Gaslights on Potential Gas Price Hikes in Fresno Visit

President Joe Biden with Mary Barra, the chief executive of General Motors, at the Detroit Auto Show, Sept. 14, 2022. President-elect Donald Trump has promised to erase the Biden administration’s tailpipe rules designed to get carmakers to produce electric vehicles, but most U.S. automakers want to keep them. (Doug Mills/The New York Times)
3 hours ago

Automakers to Trump: Please Require Us to Sell Electric Vehicles

3 hours ago

President Biden Welcomes 2024 NBA Champion Boston Celtics to White House

3 hours ago

Ohtani Makes History With 3rd MVP, Judge Claims 2nd AL Honor

Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, speaks before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives to speak at a campaign rally at First Horizon Coliseum, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, in Greensboro, NC. (AP/Alex Brandon)
3 hours ago

Trump Chooses Pam Bondi for Attorney General Pick After Gaetz Withdraws

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend