"A PATH to Greater Public Transit Access”

In an unusually quick turnaround for federal politics, a report published in May inspired the introduction of bipartisan legislation just this month that would improve access to public transportation for college students, an investment that is widely supported by higher education advocates.

It all began in January, when researchers at the Seldin/Haring-Smith Foundation set out to answer the question “Do students need a car to attend community college?” What they found captured the attention of lawmakers: only 57 percent of primary community college campuses are within half a mile of a transit stop, even though 99 percent of community college students live off campus. Further, 25 percent of those campuses that aren’t accessible could be made accessible simply by extending an existing transit line.

“What you’re talking about is adding a transit stop to a route that already exists—building one bus shelter or changing the route a little bit,” said Abigail Seldin, CEO of the foundation. “It’s having a bus go two more miles down the road. From an infrastructure standpoint, that’s just so easy. It’s right there.”

View the full article in InsideHigherEd.