As a student-ready college, Tarrant County College is committed to helping students overcome barriers to their education. This led to their partnership with the City of Arlington to provide transportation services through Via Rideshare, the City’s on-demand public transit service. The program provides free rides to eligible TCC Southeast students (They must be a TCC student enrolled in at least three credit hours or 48 continuing education contact hours (equals 4.8 CEUs) at TCC Southeast.)
TCC Southeast was added to the service area in February 2020. Recently, the contract between TCC and the City of Arlington was renewed.
“The program has proven a successful method to enable access to higher education to promote workforce development and job readiness,” said Ann Foss, principal planner in the Office of Strategic Initiatives for the City of Arlington. “There has been strong ridership, especially during the recent fall and spring traditional semesters, demonstrating student need and interest in the program.”
According to statistics, 1,862 rides were taken by TCC students in April 2022 compared to only 148 a year earlier. “This partnership is another example of how the City of Arlington is committed to supporting its residents to pursue higher education by eliminating a main barrier for students,” said TCC Southeast President William Coppola. “Before Via was expanded to the Southeast Campus, there was no public transportation to bring students to the campus,” he said. Transportation is one of the top barriers for students attending college. The partnership with the City of Arlington sponsoring students to use the Via program has eliminated this barrier.”
Students can learn more about the Via Rideshare service and how to access free rides by visiting https://www.tccd.edu/services/campus-resources/public-transportation/via/