Molly MacTaggart
Plans are in the works to provide a cheaper Toronto transit pass for university and college students but it won’t include Humber College according to IGNITE.
Tomorrow the TTC will hold a board meeting to decide whether to approve the U-pass to reduce the cost of transit for students at the University of Toronto’s St. George campus starting later this month. OCAD, Ryerson, and George Brown could be getting them in fall 2019.
Transit passes could go down to $70 for full-time students.
Currently the student Metropass costs $116.75 per month along with $7.00 photo ID and needs to be renewed every October.
The TTC has stated it does not want to offer these passes unless all students pay for them in their student fees.
Maja Jocson, outgoing IGNITE president, said that it’s not feasible for Humber campuses to join because Humber North is serviced by five public transit routes including the TTC.
The U-Pass, explained Jocson, was started by “core downtown institutions” that “chatted amongst themselves.”
She said that the main transit provider for all the downtown campuses is the TTC .
Jocson said that $280 per semester would be charged for full time students and only those with accessibility needs would be able to opt out of the tuition payment towards a U-Pass.
“IGNITE was never part of the conversation” when talks between the post secondary institutions and the TTC began, Jocson said.
She also said IGNITE does not keep statistics on how many students use what type of municipal transit.
She said that other campuses’ success with universal passes across the country may be because they’re only serviced by one municipal transit line.
Discounted Metropasses are available at Humber bookstores for part time, continuing education and faculty at the start of each month.
There are conflicting reports in the media about whether Humber has expressed interest in joining the U-Pass.
According to blog The Avro Post ,Humber College did express interest although Jocson claims otherwise.
Humber News contacted Dean of Students Jen McMillen but has not heard back at time of writing.
According to the TTC, at a December board meeting, they were directed to speak with Humber College.
U-Passes have been implemented in many other cities across the country including Ottawa, Winnipeg, and Halifax.