WINNIPEG – Students are voting in a referendum that could see their tuition fees rise $260 to provide a transit pass for all, regardless of whether they take the bus.
Buying a monthly student pass would normally cost $542, a savings of $282 for transit riders. But for those who don’t use the pass, it’s more tuition money out of their pockets.
Student union leaders at both universities have been trying to get the discounted pass approved at city hall since the 1990s.
“We want to take public transit, we want to invest in public services,” said Rorie Mcleod Arnould, president of the students union at University of Winnipeg. “We want the opportunity to get to and from school, and really be able to live our lives in environmentally sustainable ways.”
The U-Pass wasn’t approved in last year’s budget but Coun. Jenny Gerbasi and Mayor Sam Katz pushed the proposal for the following year.
It’s a common practice at other Canadian universities, Gerbasi said.
“It’s not like we are pioneering this. It’s pretty standard in most cities to increase ridership and give the affordable option to students,” she said.
Both University of Manitoba and U of W students will be voting this week. If the students vote in favour of the U-Pass, it will be implemented in January 2016.
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