OVERVIEW
Beginning in Fall 2023, USC Administration and the Board of Trustees have approved the implementation of a new mandatory Student Transportation Fee.
The primary reason this fee is being assessed is to offset the rising costs of the USC Lyft program, which has grown beyond projections since being implemented in 2016. Originally intended to be a supplemental service to our in-house Campus Cruiser program, the USC Lyft program quickly supplanted and eventually eliminated Campus Cruiser. Lyft provides tens of thousands of rides per week to USC students, all within the geofences surrounding the University Park and Health Sciences campuses.
Student safety is paramount, however we cannot continue to provide the program without implementing this fee. In addition to supporting the USC Lyft program, the fee will help support the free USC Bus system, which will add new service to LAX during specific semester breaks. The fee will also support the newly-revised LA Metro U-Pass program. Starting in Fall 2023, the U-Pass will be available to ALL USC students free of charge, including Undergraduate students for the first time. The U-Pass provides unlimited free rides on LA Metro buses, trains, and partner organizations; please see the U-Pass page on our website for complete details.
HOW THE FEE IS ASSESSED
The mandatory Student Transportation Fee will be assessed similarly to USC ‘s other mandatory fees. If you are a graduate or undergraduate student enrolled in at least one unit during a given semester in ANY session that has ANY on-campus component in Los Angeles (including hybrid courses, those scheduled by your department with a location as “OFFICE,” etc.), you will be assessed the fee. The LA Metro service area (as defined by maps online at their website) is a further determinant of in-person class locations which are subject to the fee, it is not restricted to the University Park and Health Sciences campuses. We are actively working with the USC Registrar’s office to identify courses that may be set up in incorrect sessions; if your class is truly a 100% online course but is set up incorrectly in the Student Information System, we cannot change that. Please have your Department work with the Registrar’s Office directly to get it fixed.
PLEASE NOTE: As with other mandatory fees, statements of financial hardship, or that you do not use the services covered by the fee, are NOT determining factors in whether it will be assessed. Enrollment in ANY course in ANY session that has the fee associated to it is the primary determinant.
WAIVER REQUESTS
ALL waiver requests will be processed after the week 3 drop/add deadline for Spring 2024 (Jan. 26) has passed.
As indicated above, financial hardship or not using any or all the services supported by the fee is not a determining factor in whether the fee is assessed. Attesting that you cannot afford the fee, or that you do not use the USC Lyft program, ride USC Buses or take public transit is NOT sufficient reason to request a waiver. If you believe there are other, extenuating circumstances that may warrant a waiver request, please complete [waiver request form no longer available for Spring]. In order to give departments as much time as possible to make course adjustments, and to reduce duplicate processing due to courses being dropped/added, we will review all waiver applications AFTER the USC drop/add deadline for the given semester (Jan. 26 for Spring 2024).
If you have any questions, please email us at auxtrans@usc.edu.