Students could potentially see an increase in their transportation fee next year after SGA Senate passed Resolution 13-02 at their April 11 meeting.

The resolution, presented by student senators Sarah Emerson and Jordan Graham, proposes an increase of $2 per semester, which would raise the fee from $22 to $24 in the fall and spring semesters.

Part of the increase would cover the maintenance and upkeep of the GPS tracking systems for the university buses, while a small part of the fee would go toward other services provided by the UNA Police Department, according to the resolution.

“Therefore, the Student Government Association proposes for the transportation fee to be raised by two dollars, from 22 dollars to 24 dollars per semester in the fall and spring semesters, with $1.50 of the funds going towards the cost and maintenance of the new GPS Tracker Systems for the buses and $0.50 to go towards the UNA Police department’s efforts to continue to provide the university with adequate services and safety,” the resolution states.

The University Police Department has reached out to the company Transloc Inc. and currently has plans to install the tracker system in the buses this summer, according to the resolution.

“Everyone has a smart phone now,” Graham said. “It will be easy to use those to track the buses with this system.”

Emerson said the system could be useful to on-campus students and commuters alike.

“This will be beneficial to commuters and students who park off-campus, too,” she said. “I see the buses every day, but it’s never at the same time or on a schedule.”

While Emerson said raising the fee now will prevent a larger increase in the future, SGA President Will Riley said he is concerned about the portion of the fee increase that will be used for other services provided by UNA Police, like SNAP patrol.

“I don’t care for student fees going to something that’s not expressly named,” he said.

However, the pool of funds for other services in the department covers more transportation-related things, too.

“That 50 cents also goes toward the maintenance of the golf carts, which is transportation,” Graham said.

Riley recommended passing the resolution, since the installation would take up to six weeks this summer. SGA Treasurer Laura Giles also pointed out that the fee increase would have to be approved through other groups on campus before it goes into effect.

“This still needs to go through the other branches of Senate, so it’s going to take a while,” she said.