TTC U-Pass

March 28, 2007 - Eight universities and colleges in the Toronto Area are current negotiating with the TTC in developing a discount transit pass for post-secondary students. The "U-Pass" will be provided to all undergraduate students for about $60 each month, during the September-April school year. The pass will have the student's picture on it (and hence it will be non-transferable) and it will be billed as part of the student's tuition, with no opt-outs. If negotiations go well, the U-Pass could be implemented by September 2008.

While I'm all for providing fare discounts to post-secondary students, I'm not sure if the current terms for the U-Pass are that ideal. A couple of reasons:

1) The U-Pass is only available to undergraduate students

Why they excluded graduate students is beyond me. Graduate students face the same financial constraints as undergraduate students (tuition alone is much higher than undergraduate study already!). In addition, university staff the currently enjoy discount metropasses under the TTC's Volume Incentive Program (VIP) are not eligible for the U-Pass.

2) No Opt-outs

Not every student rides the TTC. I personally know many that drive, walk, or bike to school. Forcing each and every undergraduate student to pay for the U-Pass, with no opt-outs is unfair to those who have no need for the service.

Some universities (i.e. York U) are talking to the TTC about having those students that live outside the 416 area be excluded from the U-Pass. More study needs to be done to determine just how many students commute to Toronto from the 905 region (I know I did throughout my 6 years at UofT!). I understand the rationale behind the exclusion, but at the same time, you're also creating a two-fare system and you're penalizing students who despite living far away, still want to commute to school.

Granted, having the U-Pass readily available to students may encourage ridership. But will the U-Pass be able to convert more students to move away from their cars and ride the rocket to school? I doubt it. Those who drive to school do so for many reasons (poor service I bet is one of them). If the TTC wants to attract more student riders, it needs to also improve its service (and customer relations). The U-Pass won't do you any good when you're waiting for a bus for over half-an-hour in the middle of winter.

3) Costs

$60 per month is cheaper than the $87.75 that students now pay for their discount passes. However, for those that do not need the pass, an additional $480 on their tuition is a lot of money (almost the cost of taking a half course at U of T!).

This is also more than 5 times what UTM students will be paying for their Mississauga transit passes and way more than the almost $50 per term that Waterloo students will pay for their's.

U of T students will be asked to vote on the issue once the TTC and U of T SAC reach some sort of agreement on the terms of the U-Pass (which is not expected to be anytime soon). History says that U of T students are generally against any kind of levy (a few years ago, we voted overwhelming to deny an increase of less than $100 on our tuition to fund a new stadium and athletic centre). But given today's heightened awareness of transit needs, a U-Pass is not a bad idea, just that better needs to be worked out to benefit all students.