We often have commitments to do “everything, everywhere, all at once” — but what options do you have if you don’t have a car, want to save money or just make the best of your travels? We’re kicking off a new series within “Under the Rock,” where I’ll be featuring some of the things that University of Connecticut students should know about transportation options in Connecticut, and beyond! The focus this week is the U-Pass.
Maybe you’ve heard of it or even have one yourself. The U-Pass is a program sponsored by the Connecticut Department of Transportation that allows students enrolled at our state colleges, including UConn and its regional campuses, to ride Connecticut public transit for free by using this special card. You read that correctly — free! Well, the old saying is “nothing in life is free,” so how could that be?
Every UConn undergraduate student pays a $97 transit fee, according to the Office of the Bursar. Part of that fee goes toward the Husky Go shuttles, the on-campus bus, and another part of it pays for your participation in the U-Pass. The only catch is that students have to fill out a form every semester to get a new card since the fees are paid on a semester basis — but the benefit is that the pass doesn’t expire until the end of December (for the fall) and until the end of July (for the spring).
Once you have the U-Pass card, along with your UConn ID, you can take almost any bus or train in Connecticut for free, including WRTD, CT Transit and the Hartford Line, among many more. There are, unfortunately, some limited exceptions: Some of Amtrak’s routes don’t accept it, and you can only get free fare to Greenwich on the New Haven Line. We’ll be digging deeper into all the modes of travel soon, so don’t fret, and any special conditions are clearly labeled on the back of the card.
Other than those unlikely cases, students can use the U-Pass as frequently as they’d like and for any purpose, even on weekends and holidays. I use mine to visit family and friends, travel to the city and, chiefly, to go between campus, home and work. Even if you have a car or live nearby, having the pass in an emergency or for leisure travel can be an extra benefit of being a UConn student. And, if you’ve paid your fees, why not?
If you’d like to receive your free U-Pass, visit the Parking Services webpage at park.uconn.edu/students/upass — there’s a button that brings you to the form page. More information about the U-Pass program, including those terms and conditions, can also be found on the Department of Transportation webpage at ctrides.com/u-pass-ct.
Don’t worry if transportation in “the land of steady habits” seems daunting. I’ll be by your side helping demystify it — from planes and trains to automobiles! Maybe we’ll bump into each other on the train. See you again next week — until then, I’m going back “Under the Rock.”