Students, faculty and staff rely on the U-PASS to get to and from campus each day. However, starting this summer, members of the UW community will soon find it more expensive to add the colorful U-PASS sticker to the back of their Husky cards.

The University Transportation Committee recently approved a plan to increase the price of the U-PASS to $99 per quarter, which is nearly double the current price for students.

The plan, proposed earlier this month, is a reaction to ever-rising transit costs and tax hikes and is viewed by UW Transportation Services as necessary for the survival of the U-PASS program.

“Because we have more people participating in U-PASS, and also U-PASS participants using their U-PASSes more, we need to come up with a revenue stream in order to be able to maintain services for them,” said Josh Kavanagh, Transportation Services director.

The U-PASS program is maintained at a loss for the university and is funded not only by the cost of U-PASSes, but by parking costs and other subsidies.

The UW is also raising parking rates substantially — increasing rates to $75 per quarter for student parking passes and $50 per quarter for faculty and staff.

“U-PASS alone was facing a roughly $13 million budget deficit, and Commuter Services was facing a roughly $10 million budget deficit,” Kavanagh said. “So to … keep the U-PASS program alive, we’re needing to increase rates.”

The university pays for the U-PASS program in the form of one lump sum every year, determined by how many people have U-PASSes, how often they use them and transportation costs. All of these, Kavanagh said, have increased sharply.

Because of the steep increase in price, there is a chance that many more students will opt out of the U-PASS program and ask for their money back every quarter.

Students are automatically charged for U-PASSes, which are sent with registration material every quarter. If they choose, however, they can turn in their U-PASS for a refund.

For students like Amber Thomas, who lives in the heart of the U-District and only keeps her U-PASS because “it’s too annoying to return it and get [the] money back,” the jump in price could be all that’s needed to go through that process and quit the program.

This turn of events was not unforeseen by Transportation Services, which factored a 7 percent decrease in U-PASS holders into its plan.

Despite the climbing costs, Kavanagh insists that the program will still be worthwhile for all pass holders. According to a graph in a recent press release, the average student U-PASS holder still stands to save up to $140 per quarter, even after the price goes up.

“It would be irresponsible of me to let the program die when I have the opportunity to save it by raising rates,” Kavanagh said, “[The U-PASS] creates so much value for the university community.”

Students, such as freshman Ian Finder, who commute hundreds of miles with the U-PASS every quarter, hope these changes are worth it.

“Public transit is, unfortunately for some of us who can’t afford a car, … a very integral part of enabling university students to expand their horizons,” Finder said.

Kavanagh said that Transportation Services has already taken a self-imposed $1.5 million budget cut.

“We felt this was very important because we did not want our customers paying anything more than was required to preserve the program,” he said.

Comments on the proposed rate increases can be made in person at a public hearing from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 22 in HUB 310.

Reach reporter Morgan Gard at news@dailyuw.com.