Ithaca College

Give us a semester and let us prove it to you. Save yourself $500 your first year, and about $125 a year after that. Use the most appropriate of the following modes of alternative transportation to get around and do whatever you need to do.

Walking is always great exercise. You can walk down the hill to the Commons and catch the TCAT bus back uphill. Or check out the South Hill Recreation Trail off Coddington Road or the Blue and Gold hiking trails on campus.

TCAT, the local bus system, can take you almost anywhere you want to go in the area. Ithaca College students can buy TCAT bus passes specifically created for them. The unlimited ride Student Semester Pass is $110 per semester. The Fall bus pass is good from August 15 through December 31; the Spring bus pass is good from January 1 through May 31st. Summer passes - good from July 1 - August 15 - are also available for students staying in town for classes or work. IC students may also purchase unlimited ride monthly bus passes for $30 or 15-ride passes for $15. Note, Ithaca College underwrites the cost of all these passes; to obtain the discounted Ithaca College rate, you must purchase your bus pass online at the TCAT website.

To activate your bus pass on your ID card, go to the TCAT bus pass purchase page specifically for area college students. Create a TCAT account, add your student ID to your account, and then "recharge" your ID with an Ithaca College Semester Pass or other student pass. These “recharge” purchases will be charged to your credit card and the pass permissions will be applied to your Ithaca College ID card. All you need to do to ride is present your ID card upon boarding the bus. It's important to note that it may take 1-2 days for your new bus pass to work on the bus. In the meantime, please carry cash fare ($1.50 per ride). 

If you have any questions, feel free to call TCAT at 607-277-RIDE! Check out the TCAT website for info on routes and schedules.

Consider biking where you need to go. There are racks near each residence hall grouping so you can safely store your bike when you’re not riding it for recreation. You can even park your bike on the front of each TCAT bus to ride it uphill from downtown. Bike maps of the Tompkins County area are available at the Info Desk in the Campus Center.

Ithaca Carshare, an independent car sharing organization, provides 24/7 access to a fleet of vehicles parked around the City of Ithaca. An Ithaca Carshare car is conveniently parked on South Hill right near a bus stop on the TCAT route from campus to downtown. Ithaca College underwrites a special carshare discount for IC student members: once you pay a one-time $15 application fee and are accepted as a carshare member, the annual membership fee is waived plus you receive $5 in free driving credit. For more Ithaca Carshare information, please call 607-277-3210 or visit www.ithacacarshare.org.

Zimride Ithaca is a free, community-wide electronic rideshare matching system that Ithaca College created along with Cornell, Tompkins Cortland Community College, and other local organizations. Zimride allows our students to offer or seek rides only from other IC students, or they can opt to extend their search to the other two campuses, or they may fully open their search to the general Ithaca community. Zimride is especially useful for students seeking rides home on weekends or breaks, or for rides downtown or to the mall for shopping and recreation. For more information, visit www.zimride.com/ithaca/.