As a public institution and one of the five largest employers in King County, the University of Washington has a significant responsibility for environmental stewardship and to serve as a model for the region, nation, and world. Fully subsidizing the U-PASS for all employees clearly aligns with the UW’s own stated values for sustainability including the goal to reach carbon neutrality by 2050. Increasing public transportation use for the entire UW workforce will decrease congestion in the region, promote healthier communities, and ultimately set us on a path to reach our ambitious environmental goals. Offering a fully subsidized U-PASS to all UW employees would also mirror the benefits offered by other major employers in the region, including the City of Seattle and King County.

We are encouraged by UW’s willingness to offer a fully subsidized U-PASS for classified staff and urge the university to offer this benefit to all employees as a matter of equity. Given the current contract, professional staff, librarians and faculty are left facing future increases in U-PASS costs, as well as the continued rise in cost of living in King County and surrounding areas. By offering all employee groups the same transit benefits, UW would be acting on its own espoused value of Standard of Excellence, creating policies that aid in recruiting and retaining diverse and innovative faculty and staff, and holding ourselves to the highest standards of ethics.

We urge the University to fully subsidize the U-PASS for all employees and work to match values with effective policy. We are proud to work at one of the world’s premier public universities, and seek to work with the University of Washington to fulfill our collective environmental responsibility to the region.