These Carleton University students, along with their colleagues at the University of Ottawa, will be required to buy a U-pass in September.
While Carleton University and University of Ottawa students may start using a new universal bus pass in September, several other Ottawa schools are noticeably absent from the pilot project, dubbed the “U-pass.”
The U-pass, which would require all students to pay an extra $145 each semester and which was approved by city council on Jan. 28, lacks the support of schools such as Algonquin College, La Cité collégiale and Saint Paul University.
Emily Boehm, vice-president of the Algonquin Students’ Association, says a universal bus pass has been on the discussion table for the past two or three years, but that the U-pass in its current form is just not a good fit for the college.
“Algonquin College has campuses in Pembroke and Perth and, as the U-pass currently stands, all Algonquin students would have to pay the extra $145 a semester in student fees. There is no opting out of the U-pass as it was passed by city council, which means that students in Pembroke and Perth would be paying money needlessly,” says Boehm.
She says several students have contacted her to ask why their school was not participating in the pilot project.
“I think it’s disappointing, because the U-pass would save money for students who rely on public transportation,” says Megan Hogg, an Algonquin student. “Why couldn’t they come up with a way to opt out of the bus pass, just like we do with the school’s optional health plan?”
Boehm says a universal bus pass is not off the table forever and that, if an opt-out option were to be introduced in the future, Algonquin College “would be all over it.”
Philippe Collin-Laflamme, external affairs representative with the students association at La Cité collégiale, says concern over the U-pass’s usefulness to students at his school has led La Cité to forego the project.
He says the school’s primary concern is that the U-pass would not work for the Société de transport de l’Outaouais, Gatineau’s public transit service.
“A considerable percentage of the full-time student body of La Cité collégiale comes from Gatineau,” he says. It would be quite unlikely for us to ask our membership if they would agree to pay for a service that, for many of our members, would only fulfill a part of their public transportation needs.”
Benjamin Martinpour, president of Saint Paul University’s student association, says his school is not participating in the program because with an average age of 35, most students drive.
The pilot project will only proceed once students have held a referendum on the U-pass.
The proposal was overwhelmigly passed by students at both Carleton University and the University of Ottawa in referenda last week.