In an effort to support on-going student transportation expenses, officials at Kirkwood Community College recently made a significant contribution in purchasing year-long passes on the 380 Express Bus for students. The service, that is operated by Token Transit, Inc., currently offers transportation between Cedar Rapids and Iowa City five days per week. The service is provided to the public to bypass the tenuous commute on the I-380.
As a result of the more than a $100,000 investment, approximately 60 students are currently utilizing the pass this year, according to Nick Borders, director of Student Services on Kirkwood’s Iowa City Campus.
Borders said initially the idea to partner with the 380 Express was the result of the college’s Iowa City students need for access to the main campus’s career and technical programs.
“We later learned that we also have students in our Allied Health Programs that need transportation from Cedar Rapids to Iowa City for clinicals at both the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics as well as the College of Dentistry,” he said. “The program fulfills the community college’s mission of access and helps to close gaps among our students.”
To further access the value of the investment, the college plans to do an analysis of student success rates who are in this initial pilot program and will additionally survey students about their individual experience with the service to further inform the college’s decision making about the program in the future.
Categories: Campus News, News
