Local University of South Florida students to get free fare on Sarasota, Manatee bus systems

MANATEE -- Students, staff and faculty at University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee are one step closer to free travel along Sarasota and Manatee public transportation routes starting in January, after the Manatee County commission on Tuesday approved an agreement between the university and the two counties.

"For them to have the ability to have public transportation to this campus is a benefit for them to continue to pursue their educational goals and objectives," said Terry Obsorn, the regional vice chancellor for academic and student affairs at USF Sarasota-Manatee.

University officials have already signed off on the program. Sarasota County has yet to approve the program.

Manatee County commissioners approved the program Tuesday as part of its consent agenda.

The U-Pass program is set to begin Jan. 1 and the initial agreement runs to the end of 2016. For the period, the university will pay $5,000 to each county. Osborn said the university is not introducing a new fee for students or staff.

"That's very important, we are trying to keep college affordable and this is how we can do that," Osborn said.

The majority of the student population at the university right now hail from Sarasota or Manatee counties. Osborn said the new program will be a convenient way for students to get to campus and may help alleviate parking congestion.

As the university sees more students who may not be from the area who need housing, the free transportation program will expand housing options for those students. The USF campuses in Tampa and St. Petersburg have similar agreements with Hillsborough and Pinellas counties, respectively, for their students.

"We have the resources for them to find off-campus housing and to get transportation back and forth to campus," he said.

Manatee County commissioner Robin DiSabatino said Tuesday she hopes the agreement serves as a model for other area campuses.

"I think this is a great start with the colleges," she said. "Maybe the other schools will participate as well."

Manatee County reporter Claire Aronson contributed to this report.

Meghin Delaney, education reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7081. Follow her on Twitter@MeghinDelaney.

This story was originally published November 3, 2015 at 3:53 PM with the headline "Local University of South Florida students to get free fare on Sarasota, Manatee bus systems ."