WashU students, faculty and staff are invited to break out their U-Passes Sept. 20 to compete in the annual College Transit Challenge, an annual celebration of public transportation sponsored by Citizens for Modern Transit.
Riders are invited to take MetroLink or MetroBus to the Mascot Meetup Kickoff Event at 9 a.m. Sept. 20 at Cortex Commons at the Cortex MetroLink Station. From there, the WashU Bear, along with mascots from St. Louis Community College, Saint Louis University, Southwestern Illinois College and the University of Missouri-St. Louis, will ride to Busch Stadium with students and other participants for a chance to win tickets for that evening's St. Louis Cardinals game against the Cleveland Guardians.
The university that logs the most Metro trips throughout Sept. 20 will win bragging rights and the College Transit Challenge Trophy. WashU won the last challenge, and AccessSTL president and WashU junior Catherine Chung hopes to claim victory again. She's been a regular transit user since she first arrived at WashU.
"When I got here, I was really curious about everything St. Louis had to offer and wanted to explore the city in a way that was ethical and sustainable," said Chung, who will speak at the kickoff. "But I was a little confused about how to do it and really relied on my network of friends. I think a lot of people are like that - they want to use their U-Passes, but they don't know where to start."
AccessSTL works to introduce WashU students to public transit and advocates for policies and infrastructure that benefit riders, cyclists and pedestrians.
"People talk about Forest Park as a gem that attracts people to St. Louis. Public transportation that's efficient, reliable and beautiful can do that, too," Chung said.
To register for the challenge, visit collegetransitchallenge.com. Participants will receive a WashU "Public Transit" T-shirt while supplies last.
WashU has five nearby stations - the Big Bend and Skinker stations near the Danforth Campus, the Delmar station near North Campus, the Forsyth station near West Campus and the Central West End station near the School of Medicine.
