Since August, 7,000 San Jose State students have been granted free travel across the Bay Area through public transit in part of the Associated Students (A.S.) BayPass Pilot Program.
During a news conference in front of the Black Olympic Power Statue Thursday, A.S. said it has partnered with the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) to test the effectiveness of the program.
“This pass allows you access to all 24 transit agencies, which includes the BART CalTrain, VTA and light rail,” said Dhruv Varshney, A.S. director of sustainability affairs. “You can access all of them for free.”
Varshney said the program is only available for the quarter of SJSU population that was randomly selected as its current phase is meant to gather data and numbers to analyze its effectiveness.
“This is just in its testing phases right now, but if we see that these numbers are actually appealing and encourage more people, we will try to make it available for all the students,” Varshney said after the news conference.
The BayPass grants those students free access to the 24 Bay Area Transit Operators for the next two years, expanding the pre-existing SmartPass Clipper Card.
Offered by A.S., the SmartPass Clipper Card permits access to the VTA local and rapid buses, limited routes and light rail lines, and student payment is required.
Varshney, who is a commuter student, said he spent more than $1,000 in Clipper Card fees in the spring.
He said with the BayPass Pilot Program, his transportation to and from school will be free.
“Now I can commute from Fremont everyday without worrying about the cost,” Varshney said.
Accessing free public transportation is a critical point for many commuter students at SJSU.
The 2019 Annual Commute Survey, published by A.S. Transport Solution in March 2020, reports an overall alternative transportation usage at SJSU of 46.6%.
The total transit users including VTA and regional transit made up 36.1% of the population or 12,264 riders, according to the same survey.
Computer information sophomore Pratham Bahl is another student enrolled in the BayPass Pilot Program.
Bahl said he commutes from Hayward, which is about 40 minutes away from SJSU, five days a week and he rides the BART train and VTA buses to reach campus.
“Last semester, I used to spend like hundreds of dollars getting into my Clipper Card and then taking the AC Transit to the BART station and then taking the BART to the various stations before taking the 500 VTA [bus stop] to reach SJSU,” Bahl said at the news conference.
Cindy Chavez, Santa Clara County Supervisor and mayoral candidate for the City of San Jose, said she sees mobility and public transportation as a key to access everything that's a barrier to someone meeting their goals.
“I hope we're going to see the kind of success that allows everybody who's going to be taking part in Caltrain, VTA and all of the different providers and demonstrate that by making it easy, more people will do it,” Chavez said during the news conference.
Raul Peralez, San Jose City Councilmember for District 3 and member of the VTA Board, said the comparison between students who do not have access to the BayPass Program and those who are already enrolled is fundamental for future decisions.
“There are still students that don't have the BayPass that are taking public transit today,” Peralez said. “Although they're at a bit of a loss, right now, they're part of a write up study program where we're going to be able to analyze the difference between the ridership.”
He said the comparison and the analysis of the data gathered will be essential to understand how students use the BayPass.
“The more you get people used to using public transit, understanding how to use it and if you can make it free or more affordable and efficient, they're gonna continue to use that throughout their lives,” Peralez said.
He said the BayPass Program could also eventually become a solution to address the parking availability and traffic problems on campus.
Varshney said another benefit to the program is having students “ditch” their cars and utilize public transit,“Especially now that parking has become such a pressing issue in San Jose Downtown.”
