Why are hundreds of Fresno-area community college students about to lose free bus rides?

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James Nutt takes three buses to get to Fresno City College to study criminology.

In 2017, he started getting free rides everywhere in the city because of a free bus pass program for students implemented by the State Center Community College District.

But that program is set to end on May 22 for Fresno City and Clovis Community College students if the SCCCD board doesn’t find a way to fund it again.

Before the free bus program, Nutt said it was a struggle to get to school. He would get rides with his sister, but she graduated and lives out of town now.

“It’s going to be hard if they do dismantle it (the free bus program),” the 28-year-old said. “I’ll have to drop out of school. There goes my future.”

Nutt is just one of the thousands of students who take advantage of free bus rides.

The money that would’ve gone toward maintaining parking lots was used for the free bus pass program, said Lucy Ruiz, the SCCCD public information officer, and that’s why the district can’t sustain the program anymore. SCCCD could end up paying eight times the amount to fix its parking lots if it doesn’t keep up regular maintenance, she said.

“We understand the importance of transportation for students,” Ruiz said. “We kept trying to provide that but we can’t sustain it. We also have to be diligent with funds taxpayers provide us.”

If the program goes away, students of color are going to be the most affected. About 56% of students who use the program are Hispanic, 17% are African-American, and 14% are white, according to documents obtained by The Bee.

More than 1 million bus rides have been taken since August 2017 and 7,891 students have utilized the program.

Ash Pallares, who also depends on free bus rides, has started a petition at Fresno City to save the program. As of Thursday, he said he almost has 200 signatures.

The free bus program started off as a one-year pilot in 2017 and the board continued to fund it for the next two years, said Lucy Ruiz, the SCCCD public information officer. The free bus pass program has cost the district a total of $900,000 since 2017, she said.

SCCCD Trustee Annalisa Perea said the free bus pass program has proven to be “very impactful.”

“We need to ensure we exhaust all opportunities to identify a sustainable funding stream to keep this program alive,” she said. “This is the type of program where the monetary investment is worth the value that comes from it.”

Other funding options

Ruiz said the district is looking at other ways to fund the free bus program. One option could be a grant through the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution and Control District, she said.

The Public Transportation Subsidy and Park & Rides Lots is a program the district could apply for and its meant to provide public transportation pass subsidies to encourage alternatives to cars with single riders.

SCCCD Trustee Eric Payne said the district is looking to create a task force comprised of students, administrators, and community partners to look for long-term funding solutions.

“We need to be able to provide students with as many options as we can,” he said.

Fresno City Councilwoman Esmeralda Soria told The Bee she’s working on a resolution that would direct the council to work with SCCCD to come up with a way to fund the free bus program. The resolution will be ready by the end of the month, she said.

“One of our main goals is not only to provide reliable affordable transportation but also it helps the environment if we encourage more students to ride the bus and minimize running vehicle miles,” Soria, who is also running for the 16th congressional district, said. “It also will help with parking issues at Fresno City.”