On April 18, voting polls will open to students to decide if bus passes will continue to be offered with tuition, or stop being offered entirely.

City College’s contract with the Metropolitan Transit District is ending at the end of this semester, and the terms for a new contract are being renegotiated.

Students will receive a voting ballot through their pipeline email account on April 18 and will end on April 21.

If students vote in favor of renewing the contract, the $30 mandatory transportation fee would be raised to $32 over the next two years, raising $1 each year. The cost for the summer sessions would go from $13 to $14.

“If you were to break it down, it’d probably be twice as much, or more,” said Amy Collins, student program adviser.

If students vote against it, there will no longer be a mandatory transportation fee. Students who commute by bus using their school id will have to purchase their own individual bus pass through the MTD.

According to the MTD’s website, a regular bus costs $1.75, with a day pass costing $6. A month pass would cost $52.

“It’s fiscally responsible, you’re paying $31, for a whole semester to ride the bus,” Collins said.

Isaac Eaves, president of the associated student senate is optimistic students will vote in favor of renewing their bus passes.

“It’s only a $1 increase, most people are fine with it.” Eaves said. 

Jerry Estrada, MTD’s general manager, previously stated that part of the reason the increase is necessary is to combat the revenue loss the company has faced due to the college’s 7 percent decline in enrollment over the past year.

A $2 increase from over 34,000 students will bring in over a $138,000 increase in revenue for the MTD over the course of a school year.