Aimed to encourage students to drive less, the De Anza Student Body Senate’s Environmental Sustainability Committee is sponsoring a free bus token pilot program for the summer quarter students. The tokens, each of which can be used as a day pass on any VTA bus, were given to 30 De Anza College students who commute to the school by bus. The participants were chosen from about 50 applicants.

Over 30 student volunteers conducted the program. They advertised it online and also distributed information at a booth near the De Anza library. Hamnan Khalid, a student majoring in psychology, stood near the booth where the program was being advertised. She already applied to the program and praised it. “I don’t have a car and have to spend $70 a month for my monthly bus pass,” she says.

Lina Ghamrawi and Mariam Azhar, both majoring in political science and participating in the student government, supervised the booth. They said they enrolled already more than 50 students, while the token program has a capacity only for 30 students. Ghamrawi said the students were chosen by their financial need, quantity of classes taken this quarter and general academic success.

“Our program has a two-fold purpose,” said Anaruth Hernandez, the chair of the ESC. “First and foremost, we want students who drive to school to take a bus instead, while striving to help students who don’t have a car.” There will be a similar program conducted in the fall.

She added that the program was funded from the 2009-2010 DASB Special Allocations fund.