I'm pretty sure the University of Michigan's chronic housing shortage is why we have a bus system in Ann Arbor. At least half of the students living outside the dorms end up too far from any part of campus to walk to class.

The students pay ridiculously high rents, high enough that people who do support work for the university can't afford to live in Ann Arbor because landlords can make more money off students and because a lot of houses that come on the market are beyond realistic prices for normal people. There's zero commuter parking in town, so employees need buses in order to get from the lots at the edges of town. The last twenty years, the University has paid for bus passes for all employees.