A while back I had written about how much money it was plausible to save by taking public transportation. Since that time, I have became aware that there are a quite a few different selections for student bus passes across the country. The example I used of the pass in Winnipeg ended up being around average, so that's good as far as the comparison proceeded to go; however, shortly after finding out about the various options across Canada I thought it may be helpful to make note of the differences.
Possibly the most controversial component of student bus passes in Canada is the potential of a majority of university students on several campuses to make the passes mandatory. Universities which includes the University of Ottawa, the University of Victoria, Saint Mary's University, and the University of Western Ontario have held student referendums where students elected to incorporate bus passes together with their over-all tuition and student user fees. At Ottawa this contributed to a law suit by nine students against the University since they felt discriminated against.
Obviously this scenario has some positives and drawbacks. The very low cost of public transportation for people who use it is an indisputable incentive. For those campuses the rate was decreased to approximately a 100 bucks flat for the year! This is in all likelihood because of the inflated volume of sales. The fact that students are made to get passes would definitely also improve the overall usage rates. This has good spin-off environmental effects, as well as the mentioned financial ones.
For me personally, the downsides are much more prevalent to me. During my time at the University of Manitoba we had a referendum on whether to come up with a obligatory package for public transportation to be supported by all students. I quite simply cannot get past the fact that it shouldn't be considered realistic for a minor majority of students to trample the legal rights of a big minority and take money out of their pockets to subsidize their chosen mode of transportation. If I remember correctly, there was already a percentage of the money used from parking service fees to help counteract student bus pass costs. This is still a hard sell for me regardless of the environmental benefits. Obviously as a vehicle owner I am definitely bias.
My personal distaste for certain aspects of public transportation is very likely a result of the Winnipeg pubic transit system. Regardless of how much money I was saving I couldn't justify the consistent waste of time. The schedules were hardly ever correct, the constant rudeness of travellers, and the bad weather aspect of life in Winnipeg, was more than enough to encourage me to get my own car.
If I had attended school in British Columbia I would possibly have a very different perspective of student bus passes. After a opinion from a local regarding her public transportation experience, I reviewed the Vancouver area possibilities. I was impressed by the fantastic deal they got and the fact it was not subsidized by other students (this means it doesn't punish the students that walk, bike, or drive to school). The U-Pass (universal pass) is readily availablefor sale to post-secondary students for the low price of $30 a month. The wonderful part of the deal is that this doesn't solely cover the bus, but the Seabus and SkyTrain services as well! With such a complete variety of options I would presume there is a great deal of success with the program presently there.
In comparison, Winnipeg charges over $70 each month for its poor patchwork of buses. Other monthly public transportation rates for students consist of $89 for a metro pass in Toronto, $41 in Montreal for a merged metro and bus pass, $71 for a student bus pass in Saskatoon, and Calgary didn't actually have a student price from the information I was able to see on their web page. The basic adult rate there for a monthly bus pass is $90.
One other thing people (not just students) who use bus passes should be aware of is the non-refundable tax credit available. For many people you will get a pretty good idea of how much money you should get back on your taxes by multiplying the annual fee of your bus passes by .15 (15%). This is a nice little reward incentive for people who are already financially and environmentally mindful enough to use public transportation.
Possibly the most controversial component of student bus passes in Canada is the potential of a majority of university students on several campuses to make the passes mandatory. Universities which includes the University of Ottawa, the University of Victoria, Saint Mary's University, and the University of Western Ontario have held student referendums where students elected to incorporate bus passes together with their over-all tuition and student user fees. At Ottawa this contributed to a law suit by nine students against the University since they felt discriminated against.
Obviously this scenario has some positives and drawbacks. The very low cost of public transportation for people who use it is an indisputable incentive. For those campuses the rate was decreased to approximately a 100 bucks flat for the year! This is in all likelihood because of the inflated volume of sales. The fact that students are made to get passes would definitely also improve the overall usage rates. This has good spin-off environmental effects, as well as the mentioned financial ones.
For me personally, the downsides are much more prevalent to me. During my time at the University of Manitoba we had a referendum on whether to come up with a obligatory package for public transportation to be supported by all students. I quite simply cannot get past the fact that it shouldn't be considered realistic for a minor majority of students to trample the legal rights of a big minority and take money out of their pockets to subsidize their chosen mode of transportation. If I remember correctly, there was already a percentage of the money used from parking service fees to help counteract student bus pass costs. This is still a hard sell for me regardless of the environmental benefits. Obviously as a vehicle owner I am definitely bias.
My personal distaste for certain aspects of public transportation is very likely a result of the Winnipeg pubic transit system. Regardless of how much money I was saving I couldn't justify the consistent waste of time. The schedules were hardly ever correct, the constant rudeness of travellers, and the bad weather aspect of life in Winnipeg, was more than enough to encourage me to get my own car.
If I had attended school in British Columbia I would possibly have a very different perspective of student bus passes. After a opinion from a local regarding her public transportation experience, I reviewed the Vancouver area possibilities. I was impressed by the fantastic deal they got and the fact it was not subsidized by other students (this means it doesn't punish the students that walk, bike, or drive to school). The U-Pass (universal pass) is readily availablefor sale to post-secondary students for the low price of $30 a month. The wonderful part of the deal is that this doesn't solely cover the bus, but the Seabus and SkyTrain services as well! With such a complete variety of options I would presume there is a great deal of success with the program presently there.
In comparison, Winnipeg charges over $70 each month for its poor patchwork of buses. Other monthly public transportation rates for students consist of $89 for a metro pass in Toronto, $41 in Montreal for a merged metro and bus pass, $71 for a student bus pass in Saskatoon, and Calgary didn't actually have a student price from the information I was able to see on their web page. The basic adult rate there for a monthly bus pass is $90.
One other thing people (not just students) who use bus passes should be aware of is the non-refundable tax credit available. For many people you will get a pretty good idea of how much money you should get back on your taxes by multiplying the annual fee of your bus passes by .15 (15%). This is a nice little reward incentive for people who are already financially and environmentally mindful enough to use public transportation.
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Getting a student bus pass is a popular approach to saving money when attending school. Student public transportation is crucial to any university planning to make a subsidised service to their students.
