After circling the same block scouring for a single parking spot, I got a chance to sit down with California State University, Stanislaus’, (Stan State), very own Josey Hazelton (graduate, Political Science) about the better uses of public transit.
On Feb. 22, Associated Students, Incorporated (ASI) announced a new partnership with Turlock Transit that allows Stan State students to ride free on their buses by simply presenting their Warrior I.D. card.
What many may not know is that a Stan State student’s persistence and passion for easily accessible public transportation is part of what made the vision come to life.
In Fall 2015, Hazelton applied for the Mayor’s Public Policy Award and came out as the winner of the first annual competition. Turlock Mayor Gary Soiseth began the annual competition that Fall to encourage students to apply their skills to finding solutions for regional public policy issues. 
“I applied with the idea of improving the public transit system, won and then started interning for the City of Turlock from January to August of 2016,” Hazelton said.
She received $3,000 to assist with her research alongside faculty mentor Dr. Gerard Wellman, whom Hazelton accredits for her accomplishments and who praises her for her admirable determination.
“Josey is one of the most dedicated and hardworking people, not just students…people that I have ever come across. She doesn’t back down from a challenge, in fact, she won’t”, Dr. Wellman said.
Wellman was the perfect accomplice for Josey, as transportation and public policy are his focuses within his research.
“I actually had experience with the same issue that she was proposing while I was an undergraduate student,” Dr. Wellman, Assistant Professor of Public Administration said.
“…which was creating a relationship between the university and the local transit agency. I was really enthused with what Josey presented and her rationale and her proposal with how she would proceed.”
Meanwhile, ASI President Nicole Larsen (senior, Psychology) was also working towards the same goal of bridging the City of Turlock with the campus.
“My initiative while running for my first term as President was to connect the Stan State with downtown Turlock,” Larsen said.
“We [ASI] asked the city to provide buses for Warriors Explore Downtown. We got 400 students who rode the bus to get downtown for that event and used that number to negotiate a partnership with Turlock Transit.”
“At the time, Josey was in ASI and she was interning for the city, I think, and became our behind-the-scenes person. She was a strong advocate and a big support for us,” Larsen said.
“Through that [internship] process, they were doing a short-range transit plan and redoing all of the bus routes in Turlock and part of that was building a partnership with Stan State, ASI and downtown Turlock,” Hazelton said.
The Stan State graduate school student’s overall plan was focused on improving the affordability, accessibility and convenience of public transit.
“My idea was to form that partnership to better serve Stan State and one of the ways was to get all students the Warrior Ride pass,” Hazelton said.
As it turns out, Stan State was one of the few California State Universities to have free or reduced fare passes for its students. Sacramento, Channel Islands, Los Angeles and East Bay are a few CSUs that have implemented a similar service that Warriors Ride now offers.
Considering Stan State is a known commuter school, Hazelton was eager to use her ASI Board of Director’s experience and knowledge to be that middleman between ASI, commuter students and the City of Turlock.
Prior to winning the Mayor’s Public Policy Award that gave her that stepping stone to create change, Hazelton’s determination to make a difference has been a long time coming.
In 2015, the public transit advocate participated in an internship for The Panetta Institute for Public Policy, worked for a member of The House of Representatives in Washington, D.C., was Hillary Clinton’s motorcade driver as apart of volunteering for her campaign and went on a cross-country trip with a friend from Sacramento to Boston- all by train, of course.
Josey is currently working towards her Masters of Public Administration degree at Stan State.
Being aware of stereotypes people hold about those who use public transit, Josey wants to students to at least “try transit”.
“People don’t realize it’s a good alternative. I want to dismantle the stereotypes and I want people to know that public transit is for everybody.”
Hazelton will be visiting D.C. as an intern for the Department of Transportation’s Civil Rights’ Internship Program this summer.
To keep up with her future endeavors, follow her blog americabytransit.wordpress.com
For more information on Turlock Transit routes, visit turlocktransit.com