Arbor Update

Ann Arbor Area Community News

WCC offering discounted bus pass for Winter semester

5. December 2008 • Nancy Shore
Email this article

A dedicated bus rider and WCC student recently sent me an email she received from Washtenaw Community College announcing a new discounted bus pass for WCC students available starting in January, 2009.

From the text of the email:

Catch The Ride
Avoid parking hassles, save money, and help the environment. Buy a special WCC Pass for students created by the College and the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority. The pass costs $10 and lasts all of Winter Semester— from Jan. 2 to May 4, 2009. With it, you can ride a bus anywhere, any time.

To qualify for a pass, you must be taking at least three credits in the Winter 2009 semester. You can buy a pass starting Dec. 15 at the Cashier’s Office, which is on the second floor of the Student Center Building. You’ll need your WCC ID number (the number that begins with the @ sign).

To ride the bus, you must show the pass and your WCC photo ID. If you don’t have a WCC photo ID, you can get one at Campus Safety and Security on the second floor of the Student Center Building. Take your WCC ID number and a photo ID, such as a driver’s license.

The AATA and WCC have been working on a deal like this for some time. There has even been discussion of creating an express bus route to WCC Given that a 30 day AATA bus pass costs $37.50, this is truly a great deal for WCC students.

According to studies by the Institute for Transportation Engineers and others, transit subsidies can reduce the number of people driving alone by anywhere between 1% to 20% depending on other factors.



  1. I am very excited about this new offer! Especially because there is a bus that goes right to WCC from downtown.

    Also, as someone who offers a discounted bus pass to downtown workers (a go!pass) I know how important this sort of pass can be for folks who would rather not pay (or can’t afford to pay) for parking.


       —Nancy Shore    Dec. 5 '08 - 08:18PM    #
  2. Do you know of any plans to try to measure the effect you mentioned, Nancy? It would be helpful to know how many shifted from cars to the bus as a result of the discount, not just how many take advantage of it (and might already be riding the bus.)


       —Steve Bean    Dec. 8 '08 - 12:03AM    #
  3. Steve,
    You raise a valid point. I don’t know if WCC is planning on doing this, but I think it would be a good idea for them to at least do a baseline survey before offering the passes and then a couple of months into the deal. However, I also don’t know what kind of marketing WCC is doing so that student know these passes exist (other than the email I saw).


       —Nancy Shore    Dec. 8 '08 - 02:07AM    #