Students, faculty take free, easy rides to school

by Juanita I.C. Traughber, communications director

EasyRide partnership makes public transportation available to faculty and students at no cost.
High School students, faculty, and staff have a free and convenient method to get to and from school and work each day through University School of Nashville’s EasyRide program with the Metro Transit Authority. USN pays the commuter fees and is the first and only independent school with such a partnership with MTA.

The initiative, pioneered by recent alumnus Conor Rork during his senior year, is similar to Metropolitan Nashville Public School’s StrIDe program, which allows Metro students access to free MTA bus services to commute to and from school, after-school activities, and work. The EasyRide program also applies to the Regional Transportation Authority’s Music City Star, the regional rail connecting Davidson and Wilson counties. Fares are usually $1.70 and $5.25 per ride for MTA buses and the Music City Star, respectively.

Already more than two dozen USN employees and students are taking EasyRide to school. Band Director Joe Getsi said he likes to catch up on sleep while riding the rail and bus to work.

Neighbors and freshmen Nick Sieders and Nicholas Beem brought their friends onboard an MTA bus parked in the 19th Avenue lot during lunch Thursday, Sept. 21 for High School students to learn more about EasyRide. They listen to music or do homework while on an MTA bus each morning.

“It’s easier than having our parents drive us to school since we live 50 minutes away with traffic,” Sieders said.

EasyRide not only gives students a greater sense of independence and integration into the Edgehill community but also helps relieve neighborhood traffic around USN’s urban campus.

“We are excited to have University School of Nashville come on board with EasyRide to help introduce public transit use to even more students,” said MTA Chief Executive Officer Steve Bland. “Educating teenagers and young adults on how to use the system and of the benefits of transit fosters a demographic we hope will come to value multi-modal transportation options now and throughout their life. If the future generations have the option of becoming less reliant on personal vehicles to get around, ultimately it may help improve mobility in the region and beyond.”

This program is available only to High School students. Students interested in signing up for free bus passes should see Administrative Assistant to Head of High School Debbie Fulcher in the High School Office; faculty and staff can sign up with
Accounts Payable Administrator Adell Neal in the Business Office.


 
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University School of Nashville models the best educational practices. In an environment that represents the cultural and ethnic composition of Metropolitan Nashville, USN fosters each student’s intellectual, artistic, and athletic potential, valuing and inspiring integrity, creative expression, a love of learning, and the pursuit of excellence.