Monroe Community College and Regional Transit Service are announcing a new agreement to provide free bus transportation for students for the fall semester.
"I am delighted to announce that we have established a relationship with with RTS that allows MCC students to travel to and from the new downtown campus from the transit center, to and from the new downtown campus to the Brighton campus, and to and from the Transit Center to the Brighton campus free of charge with their MCC ID," said MCC President Anne Kress.
Kress says making it possible for students to access all the college has to offer is fundamental to MCC's mission.
Recent MCC grad Quitisha Brit says coming up with money for a monthly bus pass can be a challenge for students.
"If you don't have that $65 a month to get to school, then, a lot of our students plus myself were at a point where we weren't able to get to school every day," she said.
RTS CEO Bill Carpenter says in addition to students, faculty and staff will have free access, with their MCC ID, on three different routes.
He service will be customized specifically for the downtown campus.
Classes start this fall at the new Downtown Campus.
Kress says it was designed with students in mind, with spaces for collective learning, study and tutor rooms, and more space for student organizations and clubs.
"Even more importantly, we're providing them with state-of-the art learning environments, where technology is embedded in every single classroom. It's not an add-on or a paste on. It's been there from the very beginning. We also have more computer labs for them to use," she said.
She adds the spirit of innovation that was embodied in Kodak really lives on in walls of the downtown campus, which now occupies space that was once part of Kodak's corporate headquarters.
Classes, and free bus transportation to those classes from RTS, start September 5th.