On July 18, Sound Transit will begin operating the Central Link light rail, a 13.9-mile link between downtown Seattle and Tukwila, which will have a 1.7-mile extension to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in service by the end of the year.

With the quarterly fee for the U-PASS rising from $50 to $98, some students are left wondering whether it can still be considered a bargain; however, one additional benefit the U-PASS offers is free access to the light rail.

“It’s been a goal for both Sound Transit and the UW to have [the] U-PASS be honored on the light rail,” said Josh Kavanagh, director of UW Transportation Services.

While the U-PASS can be used on the light rail, UW students won’t be able to access it in the U-District until 2016, when the 3.15-mile University Link is built.

“I will probably use it [to get to Sea-Tac Airport] when I travel to China this summer,” said UW graduate student Dan Wang. “[but] unless it covers more areas like the U-District I don’t think students will use the light rail often.”

The University Link, which Sound Transit has begun construction on in March, will include a station near Husky Stadium and will connect the UW to Capitol Hill via a three-minute trip and downtown Seattle via a nine-minute trip. This is a significant cut in time from daytime bus transit. The link will also provide access to commuters who need to make I-5 bus connections.

“It’s something we’ve heard from all our customers; excitement about this new option coming to Seattle,” Kavanagh said. “It won’t be the solution for everybody, [but] for everyone living along that route it will provide a huge convenience.”

The population of the area the University Link will run through is expected to increase by 56 percent by 2030, at which time the route is projected to contribute 70,000 riders daily to the light rail.

However, the question of whether these additional benefits will soften the impact of the escalated U-PASS prices still remains to be seen.

Reach reporter Ivan Vukovic at news@

dailyuw.com.