Options help CU community avoid TCAT fare increase

When Tompkins County Area Transit (TCAT) fares go up Jan. 1, 2001, Cornell faculty, staff and students all have tools at their disposal to avoid the increase.

The fare increase, approved by the TCAT board of directors Nov. 27, raises the single-zone cash fare from 75 cents to $1 and the multiple-zone cash fare from $1.50 to $2. But because of university programs and services, this increase will have little effect on most Cornellians.

Cornell-offered faculty and staff options: Cornell will continue to pay the fares for all faculty and staff rides on TCAT, Monday--Friday, in Zone 1 (which includes all of the city of Ithaca, Cornell, Ithaca College, the hospital, the airport and Pyramid Mall). Faculty and staff must show their Cornell ID each time they board the bus in order for the university to pay the fare.

Faculty and staff who need travel privileges to rural and suburban Tompkins County communities, such as Trumansburg, Lansing, Dryden, Groton, McLean, Danby, Newfield or Enfield, or who want to be able to use transit on the weekends, can choose OmniRide. OmniRide passes are available to eligible regular full- and part-time employees of the university and allow unlimited travel on all TCAT buses, whenever they run. Those with OmniRide receive 30 one-day parking permits per year, for those times they need to bring a car to campus. And OmniRide participants are able to take advantage of Cornell's emergency ride service.

Cornell-offered student options: The student OmniRide pass for the spring semester will remain at $60 and will be valid until Aug. 31, 2001. This pass allows unlimited travel on all TCAT buses, whenever they run.

TCAT options: Cornell community members who want their families to have similar privileges -- or for whom the Cornell-administered programs don't work -- can elect to take advantage of TCAT's offerings. Beginning in January 2001, TCAT will offer an unlimited-use, multi-zone, calendar-month pass for $30. TCAT has announced that passes for any 30-consecutive days (rather than for a calendar month) and shorter-term passes will be available in late spring 2001.

For more information on Cornell TCAT options, call Commuter and Parking Services at 255-PARK or e-mail transportation@cornell.edu . The TCAT office can be reached at 277-RIDE or at tcat@cornell.edu.