Faculty and staff can now get free passes to ride city buses, an announcement that comes nearly a month after President David Schmidly said the passes would be available.
Schmidly announced Aug. 11 that the University had worked with the city to provide free bus passes to faculty and staff.
But when the program finally took effect Monday, some faculty and staff had already found other means of getting to campus.
Justine Andrews, assistant professor of art and art history, read about the free passes in Schmidly's Monday morning message.
"I contacted Parking and Transportation Services soon after the announcement, and they told me they had no information on the program," she said.
Andrews waited to hear more about the free passes until the second week of the semester and then purchased a monthly bus pass for $20.
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Cynthia Martin, the program-planning manager for Parking and Transportation Services, said UNM was finalizing its negotiations with the city, which led to the delay in passes being available.
After UNM and the city began offering free bus passes for students last year, faculty and staff said they would like to be offered the same service, Martin said.
"The student program was developed by the Legislature," Martin said. "We used it as sort of a pilot and went back this year to the city and negotiated for faculty and staff as well."
Brian Kilburn, spokesman for Parking and Transportation Services, said the department was excited to work with the city to provide free transportation to faculty and staff.
"We greatly welcome (the program), but it wasn't available before people needed to buy parking permits, and we'd like to see where it goes," Kilburn said.
Ben Lawrence Begaye, the facilities services manger for the SUB, said the program will be a success.
"I think it's great for those who can benefit from it, especially with high gas prices," Begaye said.
The free bus pass program for faculty and staff is one of Schmidly's Fast-Track Energy and Transportation Initiatives.
But Martin said there is no quick fix to the parking problem on campus.
"Anytime that anyone makes a
decision to use alternative transportation to get to campus, they are helping to be a part of the solution rather than part of the problem," she said.
Faculty and staff who want to use the free transportation need to present a current Lobo ID and a printout of their expanded record from the UNM directory to Parking and Transportation Services, on the northwest corner of University Boulevard and Central Avenue. Applicants will get a sticker to put on their Lobo IDs and can ride for free by showing it to bus drivers.
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