On Friday, Feb. 14, Western Washington University's Board of Trustees voted to reduce the Active Transportation Fee that had previously been overcharged to students. The 16.67% increase in fees from 2023 will be reduced to 5%.
The Front covered this increase in fees in a previous article.
Joyce Lopes, the president of business and financial affairs, discussed the change in fees at the meeting.
“We do apologize for our oversight,” Lopes said. “Our authority was to approve up to a 5% increase, but no more than that per year.”
The previous fee of $35 per quarter will be reduced to $31.50. The Board of Trustees also approved an additional 5% increase for the 2025-2026 school year, which will raise the fee to $33.08 per quarter.
“We want to bring a request to reverse the 16% increase that was approved previously, and instead implement a 5% increase for 2024-2025,” Lopes said.
During the meeting, Lopes discussed refunding students who were overcharged.
“The Student Business Office is prepared to reverse all of those fees,” Lopes said.
The Active Transportation Fee cannot be increased by more than 5% without a vote by the student body.
Malachi Phillips, the Associated Students of Western Washington University president, attended the meeting on Zoom and spoke about his work with Lopes on the issue.
“We've had many discussions and I’m looking forward to working with her and her staff to make sure we don't have this happen again in the future,” Phillips said.
Phillips also argued that the Associated Students and Business and Financial Affairs Division should work to make sure they don't “skip out on student government.”
The fee was originally increased by 16% to pay for the Starlight Shuttle program, a point that Lopes reiterated during the meeting.
Lopes also explained how the program will continue despite the reduction in fees.
“We have taken that on internally,” Lopes said. “We’ve in fact added one more shuttle in that process.”
In an email to Front guest contributor Brenna Witchey, Western’s Director of Transportation Services Shelby Zimmerman, discussed how the reduction in fees will affect the program.
“The entire Starlight Shuttle team has been diligently working to ensure that reducing the Active Transportation Fee will not have any impact on our current ability to provide this service to students,” Zimmerman said. “With the work that's been done, we are confident that this reduced funding will not have an impact on the service.”
Liam Walsh (He/Him) is a city news reporter this quarter for the Front. He is a sophomore majoring in journalism with a news/editorial concentration. In his free time he plays for the Western rugby team. Reach him at liamwalsh.thefront@gmail.com
