Land that was sold in the early 1900s to increase the school’s endowment to $5 million is equivalent to $ 150 million today.Īnnika Rowland, a Cornell graduate student and member of the DSA, said recent TCAT reports do not take into account if Cornell provided greater tax contributions to the county. The Morrill Land Grant Act was chartered in 1862 and provided the university with nearly 1 million acres of land. “I would like to say, ‘Cornell owes us everything,’” Glaubman said. Jane Glaubman, a member of the DSA, said in a speech that Cornell has a history of benefiting from public services, like through the Morrill Land Grant Act. Klein said that in order to go fare-free, the underwriting funding grant which makes up a portion of TCAT’s $19 million budget - which currently stands at approximately $3 million according to The Ithaca Times - would have to increase by $2–3 million. While TCAT originally requested an 8% increase from all of its underwriters, Cornell negotiated to increase by 5%, meaning the other two underwriters - the City of Ithaca and Tompkins County - also could only increase funding by 5%, despite already agreeing to the 8% increase. 20, Cornell agreed to increase its funding to TCAT as one of three underwriters. But simply does not have enough drivers and mechanics to do more because research suggests that if you go free, then you immediately increase the number of riders by 20%.”Īctivists point to Cornell University as the solution to TCAT’s financial problems. “I know they’re suggesting people are using that as obstructionism,” Klein said. Klein, who served on the TCAT board for seven years and is an author of the TCAT report, said TCAT does not currently have the resources to overcome the financial and logistical difficulties of going fare-free. ![]() “Every time they do this, they go to great lengths to detail those roadblocks and they make no mention of Cornell and its ability to those concerns with a fraction of a percent of the university’s billions of wealth.” “The TCAT board released yet another statement asserting their refusal to go fare-free because there are too many financial roadblocks,” Leddy said. Sabrina Leddy, chair of the FreeCAT movement, spoke at the rally, demanding greater contributions to TCAT from Cornell University and refuting the TCAT Board’s statements that going fare-free is impossible. As of February 2022, TCAT had 80 drivers, according to The Ithaca Voice. Scot Vanderpool, general manager of TCAT, however, outlined steps he said could allow for the elimination of fares, including increasing TCAT’s driver count to at least 90, hiring at least two additional mechanics and finding more available vehicle parts. In its report, the committee concluded that going fare-free is fiscally and operationally impossible at the time. In response to the petition, TCAT tasked its Planning Committee with determining if going fare-free was possible. In recent years, concern has mounted over the seemingly stalled progress on the resolution, especially following former Mayor Svante Myrick’s departure. In 2019, the City of Ithaca adopted Ithaca’s Green New Deal, with goals of reducing carbon emissions and achieving community-wide carbon neutrality by 2030. The protest attracted a handful of onlookers, including local politicians Daniel Klein, Tompkins County District 7 legislator Mike Sigler, Tompkins County District 6 legislator and 4th Ward Alderperson Jorge Defendini on the Ithaca Common Council, in attendance. ![]() In the FreeCAT vision statement, proponents said that eliminating TCAT fares will increase the standard of living and decrease the number of private vehicles on the road, which would reduce the city’s carbon footprint.Īt the rally, about 20 demonstrators carrying signs and flags gathered in support of the movement. As of May 3, the petition has received 536 signatures. The FreeCAT movement began in March 2022 with an online petition posted on the DSA Instagram page. The Ithaca Democratic Socialists of America and the Ithaca Sunrise Movement held a rally on The Commons on May 2 in support of the FreeCAT movement, which aims to remove ride fares from Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit bus services.
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