MONTREAL — An online petition is circulating to end age restrictions for discounted student STM passes.
Currently all students up to the age of 25 pay $49.25 per month for a pass.
Those 26 and over are forced to pay the full adult fare of $82 per month even if the transit users are full-time students.
A government amendment has been adopted by the National Assembly to lift the age restrictions, but the provision is part of Bill 76 which seeks to re-organize Montreal’s regional transit authorities and the bill is not yet law.
Sophie Lamontagne, a 26-year-old full-time student and mother is hoping the bill will become law.
She started the petition calling for an end to the age limit.
It would mean savings of close to $400 a year for many “older” students.
“Most students are living in a very precarious financial situation,” she told Global News.
The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) has no age restrictions for students to benefit from reduced rates.
Some are hoping Montreal will follow Toronto’s example.
“If you’re a full time student you can’t work in a full time job, and an international student — like I am — then you also have to pay a lot of fees that are required by the university,” Pedro Braga, a 26 year-old PhD student at UQAM told Global News.
He’s one of more than 17,000 people who had already signed the petition at the time of publication.
Bill 76 is expected to be adopted this year.
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