Capital Metro Board Approves ACC Green Pass

The Capital Metro Board of Directors has unanimously approved a bus pass pilot program for ACC students, faculty, and staff. The initiative, called “Green Pass,” is intended to help students get to class, ease parking congestion, and reduce ACC’s carbon footprint while gathering important ridership data.

The college will launch Green Pass for the spring 2010 semester. Beginning January 5, ACC will issue Capital Metro passes to students, faculty, and staff, who can use bus service (and rail service, when it comes online) at no cost to them. In an agreement reached with Capital Metro, the college will be charged a discounted rate per ride. The pilot program will assess the need for potential new routes and enable ACC to gauge interest in free use of mass transit.  

The Capital Metro board gave Green Pass the green light on Wednesday, October 28. ACC’s Board of Trustees approved the pilot program in early October.

“We are so pleased to move forward with the Green Pass program,” says Andy Kim, the college’s director of environmental stewardship. “We appreciate the unanimous support of Capital Metro’s Board of Directors as well as the enthusiastic support of ACC students and employees.”

The cost of the pilot program will be covered by funds from the parking fee increase that went into effect this fall as well as a new sustainability fee of $1 per credit hour (which begins spring 2010). The average student will pay $8 a semester.

“This new ridership program will benefit not only the students, but the environment as well, and ACC students are always trying to find new and innovative ways to improve life using green practices,” says Joshua Bacak, president of the college’s Student Government Association.

Green Pass is just one example of ACC’s commitment to minimizing its impact on the environment. For information on all of the college’s sustainability initiatives, visit austincc.edu/sustainability.

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