As of Monday, Spirit Bus drivers now require passengers to show a student or Brazos Valley Transit ID prior to boarding.
Madeline Dillard, assistant director of transit, said non-students who want to ride the bus can purchase a Brazos Valley Transit ID for $35 annually in order to use the service.
The new policy is part of an effort by Transportation Services to formalize its partnership with Brazos Transit District and qualify for federal money to go toward future bus purchases, Dillard said.
“We share our performance and ridership data with the district to be combined with their information to apply for federal money,” Dillard said. “Combining the data from both systems will qualify the area as a ‘transportation intensive’ entity, with more possibilities for federal funding.”
Dillard said in order to formalize the partnership with Brazos Transit District, Transportation Services has taken several measures to inform the public about the new policy.
“We modified our website to specifically state that effective Feb. 16 anyone with an ID from TAMU, Blinn or Brazos Transit can access our transit service,” Dillard said. “We also modified our signage at bus stops to indicate the change, posted signage on each bus and tweeted the requirement and included the information in the spring email to TAMU students.”
Travis Walters, biomedical sciences senior and Student Services chair of Student Senate, said no one will be denied a ride during the first weeks to allow passengers to grow familiar to the new policy and to allow non-affiliates of A&M or Blinn to purchase a BVT ID.
“The policy is expected to be fully enforced upon resuming school after spring break,” Walters said.