Contrary to the belief of Student Association Mass Transit Board Chairman Dave Emerick, the fairest way to deal with the need for additional funding is not to ask for students to support yet another fee increase.

A new method of funding the SAMTB should be created—one similar in principle to the university’s health insurance plan. This would allow students to request a refund, giving them more control over how their money is being spent.

Only those students interested in riding Huskie buses would be responsible for funding the system. Students choosing to walk or those commuting would have no use for the system and therefore should not be asked to fund buses they would not ride.

Students interested in using the system would receive bus passes or stickers to put on their student identification cards. Other non-students from the university or community wanting to ride the buses would pay an equal fee and could obtain a bus pass.

If necessary, additional funding could be allocated by the Student Association and would be supplemental money used only for maintaining the system on a need-only basis.

Recently the SAMTB has been “losing money” because of low ridership on route 9 to Sycamore and is in need of increased funding to support the addition of services such as the late-night ride service and handicap transportation. No matter how positive the creation of these services is, only a minority of all fee-paying students will benefit from them.

By instituting such a system the demand for such services could be better evaluated and only the riders would be responsible for paying for the services.