Memorandum

Description: Write a page-long memo on any topic of your interest. You can address any issue present at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, The City University of New York (JJay/CUNY) or another institution. Your discussion issue could also be related to other matters, pertaining to your field (major). Your memo should not exceed a page as it is a brief message which brings attention to an issue and provides a solution(s).

From: Undergraduate Student at John Jay College of Criminal Justice (JJay)

To: Ana Ramos, Financial Aid Department

Date: February 08, 2019

Subject: Free transport services for students

Arriving to class at John Jay College can often be difficult due to the rising prices of public transportation offered. I believe if John Jay along with public transportation services, such as the MTA, offer free tickets to students, it will ease the way to ensure that classes can be attended without the financial worry of transport.

The current price for one subway ride or local bus ride is $2.75 plus the price of a new metro card which is $1.00. On top of a subway ride that you may need, there is the train fare that ranges depending on where you live. An example of a train fare that a student may pay is a round-trip ticket from Stamford, CT to Grand Central is $30.50. Students may highly struggle to pay these prices everyday as they have to attend school and study, and part time jobs may not be enough to cover these high expenses. If a student were to purchase the train ticket described above and take two subway rides for 5 days a week, their monthly transport bill would total to roughly $181.00. With these prices, students may have to resort to taking a cheaper route, such as a subway ride, which makes their travels lengthy and therefore prevents students from receiving vital sleep so that they may perform highly in their academics.

A solution to these costly travels could be a given student discount granted by the MTA, Metro North, Amtrak, Long Island Railroad, and New Jersey Transit and supported by funding and fundraisers done by John Jay and its students. By presenting a valid student ID card, a student should be able to receive gratuitous tickets, cards, etc to fit their transportation needs. If these fares become free to active students at the John Jay College, students can benefit from receiving more sleep due to not having to take the lengthy, cheaper route. This will increase their productivity and achievements in their classes and lead to better grades and less stress for the students. Students who may struggle financially will be free of worry as to their ability to arrive to their classes with this grant of free transport. At the very least, for students that present their ID at time of purchasing tickets, a greatly decrease in the prices should occur.

These financial issues dealing with public transportation must be addressed immediately. These costly transportation fares have to become a solved problem for struggling students. If changes aren’t made, students will increasingly deplete in their studies due to lack of sleep along with those who may not attend class due to the fare to a ticket to arrive to class simply being out of budget. Thank you so much for taking your time to read my message. Feel free to contact me at (123) 456-7890.