By Melanie Wiser
By MELANIE WISER
The free UTA bus service provided by BYU will now require students to carry an actual bus pass along with their student ID, causing some students worry as it is one more card to carry.
'The card allows UTA, as well as BYU, to keep track of how many bus passes have been given out,' said Carri Jenkins, BYU spokeswoman.
For the past two years stickers have helped to access UTA services. A large amount of replacement stickers were given out, making it difficult to keep track of how many students were actually using the bus services.
'I was stunned by the large number of students who received replacement stickers this past year,' said BYU Student Life Vice President, Janet Scharman in an earlier story in The Daily Universe.
Since the sticker was placed on the student ID, if a card was lost, then the sticker was also lost. This not only made it hard to keep track of how many stickers had been given out, it also allowed students to have more than one bus sticker, should the lost card be found.
Glen Sanders, a BYU senior majoring in accounting, works at the UTA Bus Pass desk at One-Stop Student Services. Sanders said the new card system isn''t a big hassle.
'It''s not that much different from pulling out your student ID to flash the sticker on the back of that,' he said, 'but people are a little perturbed at the idea of having another card in their wallet.'
All students are entitled to one free bus pass and any replacements are $50. The fee is to encourage students to be responsible for their pass as well as to prevent students from having multiple passes.
In April 2002, BYU began using the UTA Ed-Pass bus card program, modeled after a similar program used at the University of Utah. The program was met with success and BYU decided to continue providing this service to students.
'BYU decided to use this program to provide another method of travel and to reduce traffic, congestion and pollution,' Jenkins said.
Bret Lehnhof, a senior majoring in psychology, has been riding the bus daily since Fall 2003.
'They are always on time, but most of the time I am not, so sometimes I miss it,' Lehnhof said.
Many students have found the UTA services to not only get them around town, but also as a means of meeting interesting people.
'I love the bus services because of the opportunity to meet new people,' Sanders said. 'It''s a great opportunity to share the gospel and read books.'
Registration for the bus passes is available through Route Y. Once students have registered for the pass, they can than pick up their cards at the UTA desk at One-Stop in the Wilkinson Student Center until next Monday. The cards are also available at the BYU Bookstore, the WSC ID Center or the WSC Information desk.
Bus passes are also available to faculty and staff for a fee of $60.