TCAT Agreement Reached

Decreased ridership due to the pandemic was TCAT’s main driver for more reserve funds. If the yearly revenue is below what is needed to keep the non-profit afloat, additional funds will need to be pulled from the reserve.

According to a TCAT tax report, the Ithaca Times explained that by 2024, TCAT could burn through its reserve funds and consequently face a $3.7 million budget deficit.

Scot Vanderpool, TCAT’s general manager, explained that TCAT respects the decisions of its underwriters.

“[TCAT understands that each contributor makes its financial decision] based on what they determine is reasonable for them to contribute,” Vanderpool said.

However, according to the Ithaca Times, Tompkins

County Legislator and TCAT Board Member Dan Klein believes that Cornell’s financial reasoning is unjust.

“Cornell took in approximately $1 billion in donations last year alone,” Klein said. “Cornell receives the biggest benefit by far from TCAT, and they have shown disregard for the financial well-being of TCAT over and over again. Spending one-time money on ongoing operational costs is unsustainable.” or simply ‘the person in the office that knows what to do with this massive dataset we’ve been sitting on,’ which will make your boss happy,” Guinness said.

Similarly, many student-led organizations and community organizations have raised concerns about the University’s conservative behavior in negotiations with TCAT. The Ithaca Democratic Socialists of America’s FreeCAT campaign pushes for free TCAT passes for all users.

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Sonia Mar ’26, an Industrial Labor Relations student who is exploring Cornell’s minor options, grew interested in the new data science minor after taking Industrial Labor Relations Statistics 2100: Introductory Statistics.

Mar said she recognizes that data analysis is increasingly valuable as information science expands to different professional sectors.

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