Gov. Charlie Crist put the kibosh on Santa Fe College students' hopes for prepaid and reduced fair for bus rides.
Crist vetoed a Senate bill, which proposed the authorization of community college boards of trustees to establish a transportation access fee of less than $3 per credit hour to be tacked on to tuition fees.
Had the bill gone through, Santa Fe students would have been able to ride the bus for free after showing their student IDs.
At $3 per credit hour, the added fee would be $36 for a full-time student, ringing in at $12 below the current subsidized semester rate for SFC students.
"That's just one more fee that poor community college students have to pay," SFC student Ben Brew said.
In light of the economic and environmental crisis, Brew said, the governor should support students who ride the bus.
Nicole Toci, who came to SFC from Milwaukee for the spring semester, said Gainesville's bus fees are more expensive than a comparable service in Milwaukee.
"If it wasn't so expensive, I would definitely do it more," said Toci, who rides the bus about twice a week.
The enactment of the bill, which is nine years in the making, would cost $700,000, according to SFC president Jackson Sasser.
Santa Fe's Student Activities committee could influence the bill and contribute $150,000 to the cause with some allocation rearranging, Sasser said.
"If the students feel it's important, they have the authority over the fee," Sasser said.
