The CUNY Student Commuter Grant Pilot Program will start this fall, providing around 1,250 students with OMNY cards loaded with 75 trips per student, according to USS CUNY. Although the program will be helpful, it does not provide enough students with the opportunity, or cover enough modes of transportation for it to be truly impactful.

The Student Commuter Grant Pilot Program does not include the Metro-North, Long Island Rail Road, express buses or PATH trains, all of which are commonly used modes of public transportation for CUNY students. For students who live in parts of Queens, Long Island or Yonkers, their sole options are the LIRR or Metro-North. Some students in Brooklyn and Staten Island can only get home by express buses, which are also not covered by the program.

According to CUNY, “CUNY today has 26 colleges spread across New York City’s five boroughs, serving 247,000 degree-seeking students of all ages and awarding 50,000 degrees each year.”

By only providing 1,250 students with free OMNY cards, they will reach less than 1% of CUNY’s overall student population. According to the NYC comptroller, 57% of CUNY students are Pell Grant recipients, meaning they meet the income requirements to receive grants to subsidize their education. Even at a starting amount, 1% is not nearly enough.

The program has the support of city council with City Council Member Shaun Abreu, D-Manhattan, who said, “I don’t want a single CUNY student missing class because they can’t cover bus or subway fare. We’re taking a major step to solve that problem with this budget, and the future of our city will be better off for it.”

The city has provided the funds for the Student Commuter Grant Pilot Program, but New York state has decided to not move forward with its $700,000 contribution to the program this year, which was supposed to make up half of the program’s funding, according to amNY. This inaction on the state’s part further reflects their neglect of CUNY as a whole when it comes to new funding initiatives.

City Council Member Rita Joseph, D-Brooklyn, said it best in a statement: “Every swipe to campus is an investment in a student’s future, and no one should have to choose between paying for transit and showing up to class.”