Proposed legislative budget cuts could end UNM's free bus pass deal with the City of Albuquerque.
The Legislative Finance Committee is proposing to cut all of its funding to the program.
UNM spokesman Benson Hendrix said that during the last fiscal year, the Legislature allocated $35,000 for student bus passes. UNM internal funds gave the program $30,000 for faculty and staff to receive passes, he said. In total, UNM pays the City of Albuquerque $65,000 to run the program each year.
The proposed budget cuts will go before the House on Feb. 12. If they pass, they must then pass the Senate and be signed by Gov. Bill Richardson.
About 7,000 UNM community members have a free ride pass, said Clovis Acosta, director of Parking and Transportation Services.
Greg Payne, ABQ Ride director, said that even though ABQ Ride is only halfway through its fiscal year, it has already seen more than 500,000 passengers from UNM.
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"We are on track to do over 1 million passenger boardings," he said.
With the success of the program, Payne said he doesn't understand why the Legislature would want to cut its funding.
"Right now, I'm going to operate under the assumption that this is some sort of mistake or misunderstanding, because defunding the UNM student bus program doesn't make any sense whatsoever," he said. "It's been just a successful program and a great partnership between the City of Albuquerque and UNM, and it just doesn't make any sense to be appropriated."
Student Morganna Snook-Fehr said she used her free pass to ride the bus twice a day during the fall semester.
Because her car was being repaired, catching a bus was a convenient way to get to and from school, Snook-Fehr said.
If the student bus program weren't in effect, Payne estimates it would cost about $204,000 a year for the pass holders to ride the bus.
Payne said UNM met with ABQ Ride last week to talk about ways of expanding the program to meet more riders' needs.
Payne said he has contacted Representative Gail Chasey, who has been working on the program since its inception, to alert her to the situation. He said he hopes she will find a way to ensure the program won't fall apart but that it was too early to know how the program will be affected if its legislative funding is cut.
Snook-Fehr said that if the service is no longer available, she will continue to ride the bus.
"I probably would still take the bus, but it's a lot easier just to have my ID with my little sticker on it," she said. "I have a friend who rides the bus all the time, and he always uses his little sticker. He has a car. He just doesn't like to use it, so he rides his bike and uses the bus."
