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UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND, COLLEGE PARK– UMD has an opportunity on its hands. Usual routes to and from classes direct students across Campus Drive, where detours lead them through a crossing at Hornbake Plaza. This results in a low-supply, high-demand environment which UMD would be financially irresponsible not to exploit. 

This leaves no other option: the University of Maryland must charge a monetary fee for any student crossing Campus Drive into, or out of, Hornbake Plaza. My reasoning is threefold.

First, consider potential revenue. In the name of falsifiability, let us proceed with the most conservative estimates. Say that there are ten “course periods” for which people need to cross the plaza and that 200 students cross during each (all figures generated by my highly rigorous personal data collection system). A charge of $1 per student would then result in $2,000 per day. In a 70-day semester, this would generate $140,000—and again, that’s the lowball.

This revenue could be allocated to many different sources: construction of additional sports stadiums, enhancements to the Purple Line, increases in DOTS funding—the list goes on. Standing to gain benefits like these, no alternative could ever be considered the ethical choice— think of the future.

Second, the extraneous benefits of such a measure are not to be understated. New employment opportunities would arise (consider the creation and operation of the toll stand!). The shared taxation experience could help foster community. Finally, the implementation of such a fee would incentivize alternative pathfinding around campus, reducing foot traffic and pushing students to see all of what campus has to offer. What is a university for if not to expand the horizons of those within it?

Third, student outcry could be circumvented or ignored entirely. Installing an EZ-pass-like system could mitigate the inconvenience of stopping at the toll stand (for an additional fee, of course—see point one). Additionally, current research suggests consumers don’t realize the impact of regular, small-scale purchases, minimizing student discontent. Not that student discontent is a primary concern in the first place— relative to the other impacts discussed here, it’s rather ancillary.

In conclusion, the potential for passive income is just too great to pass up. The university should charge a fee for crossing Campus Drive, and it should do so as soon as possible. There’s just no real alternative. Stay fearless, Terps. #TerrapinStrong