What is VEST?
In 2025, UCSC students voted overwhelmingly (96%) in favor of Measure 82, to establish the VEST Commission (Voices for Empowerment and Safety in Transportation), because students found the UCSC administration lacks effective mechanisms to include student voices in its decisions, and this contributed to an unreliable, unsafe and costly transportation system.
The VEST Commission is a student-majority, student-led commission that invites the participation of faculty and staff to join in a democratic process to improve campus transportation services. The 2026 VEST includes representatives of the Student Union Assembly (SUA), Graduate Student Assembly (GSA), Student Union Governance Board (SUGB), Registered Student Organizations and staff organizations.
VEST News
Tell Your Stories: Transparent Transit By You!
Updates: Open Letter to TAPS (06/29/26)
Dear Executive Director Henderson, AVC RSS Stokes, VC FOA Reiskin, and Chancellor Larive,
We, the undersigned students, faculty, and staff of UC Santa Cruz, urgently call on the campus administration to halt the July 1, 2026 implementation of the proposed TAPS parking rate
increases and program changes.
The campus community is in an affordability crisis. Students, staff, and faculty are struggling to pay for the rising costs of housing, food, and transportation. UC systemwide and campus decisions have added to this crisis (e.g. increasing tuition, increasing campus and local housing costs). Enough is enough!
You Belong Here. The programs and services described here are open to all, consistent with state and federal law, as well as the University of California’s nondiscrimination policies. Every initiative—whether a student service, faculty program, or community event—is designed to be accessible, inclusive, and respectful.