Commuting to off-campus internships or work-study jobs will be more expensive and difficult if the Chicago Transit Authority’s plan to raise fares and eliminate bus service in Evanston takes place.
Caroline Pinkston, who works with the America Reads program, gets a half-hour of pay – $5.50 – each shift, to cover the time she spends traveling. But now, the round-trip El ride to Lincoln Elementary School off Main Street could cost the Weinberg senior as much as $6.50. Fares will increase to $3.25 each way during peak hours starting in January. Pinkston said she’s “worried about the increases.”
Similarly, the bus that runs from campus to Washington Elementary School, 914 Ashland Ave., where Music junior Jean Laurenz goes once each week to observe and help teach a music class, is slated to be cut Jan. 6. Laurenz gave up on the bus and started taking a cab a while ago but still thinks it’s important to have public transportation as an option.
“(The buses) are very valuable to have,” she said. “It’s $20 to take a cab.”
The first time Laurenz tried to take a bus in Evanston it didn’t show up, she said. Another time, she was two minutes early but the bus left right before she got to the stop.
CTA’s bus cuts, fare increases and layoffs were announced Friday as part of the proposed 2008 budget. The changes are in addition to the Nov. 4 “Doomsday” measures originally scheduled for September. As part of the latest proposal, the system ultimately would lose 82 bus routes, 2,400 employees, and raise El and bus fares by 75 cents during non-peak hours and $1.25 during peak hours.
Chicago Field Studies Assistant Director Karen Allen said the fare increases will impact her program more than the loss of buses will, especially for students who take the El to work sites downtown. Allen said some internships give students a stipend for transportation costs, and the program is trying ways to offset the costs for students who are not compensated.
A few students are able to walk, drive or carpool to their internships sites but many take the El or the Metra. About 75 percent of the students in the program work downtown, Allen said.
“We’re looking at ways to offset the costs that affect students,” she said. “Maybe we can get alumni to support incidental costs, such as transportation. We’re hoping to provide additional resources for students over the next six months.”
Overall, Allen said, the changes shouldn’t impact the internship sites where students are placed. She added that the Associated Student Government should work to bring the U-Pass to Northwestern to ease the burden on students.
“I don’t think it will have a negative impact, and if it does, we’ll find additional resources,” Allen said.
Reach Annie Martin at [email protected].
