UT Austin students stage protests for affordable housing and transportation

AUSTIN, Texas – Transit forward i UT Austin students organized a rally on campus to support affordable housing and educate students about the future of transportation in the city.

“Hooked on Transit,” “Horns Housing” and “There is no Planet B” were just some of the slogans that were displayed on signs held by UT Austin students during a student rally for public transit as their voices were heard Thursday afternoon.

“We are primarily trying to educate the student community about this topic and also engage them more on this issue. I don’t think it’s something that’s usually given much thought,” says Arshia Papari, director of student government advocacy policy at UT Austin.

A major focus of the student coalition was Project Connect, the city of Austin’s plans for a multi-billion-dollar, nearly 10-mile light rail system.

“A lot of people living in North Campus High Park have to walk and hike to get here and also have to pay for parking, which is crazy here, and for light rail, especially students living in North Austin could get here in a short amount of time.” says Savannah Rakowitz, director of civic engagement policy at UT Austin.

While the project has been the subject of lawsuits and opposition, demonstrators argue that it is beneficial to students and the environment.

“In terms of carbon dioxide emissions, it’s extremely environmentally friendly, and with a lot of car traffic, we’re dealing with car pollution,” Rakowitz says.

Another key topic of the rally was housing affordability.

“The biggest problem we see is that with rising costs for students who don’t really have a fixed income, it’s really hard to figure out where they’re going to live, and that’s why unfortunately West Campus is famous for having a lot of companies taking advantage of students by paying crazy rents ” says Rakowitz.

The group also used the rally as an opportunity to encourage students to negotiate rates with landlords when looking for housing.