Where’s the U of M’s U-Pass?
No further progress since initial 2004 talks
Morgan Modjeski, news Reporter
While other Canadian universities are currently offering the universal bus pass to their students, the University of Manitoba, despite talks in 2004, has yet to offer the transit option.
For universities that currently have the U-Pass, the bus pass’ payment is added to a student’s tuition at the beginning of the year or paid on a term basis. The U-Pass would enable students to have a transit pass that is in direct association with the student’s university — ultimately saving a student not only time but money.
Amanda Johnson, vice-president (external) of UMSU, said that, in 2004, UMSU’s plan to integrate the U-Pass to the U of M and other Winnipeg post-secondary institutions was a combined effort put forward by student governments at both U of M and the University of Winnipeg.
Johnson went on to say that the U-Pass would have made university students less dependent on cars for commuting to and from school.
“It will definitely help increase ridership but [also] on the sustainability side, so there are not so many single drivers driving to campus,” she said. “University of Manitoba is clearly labelled as a commuter university.”
A commuter university is one where typically more students are living in the city and commuting to school on a daily basis rather than living on or near the campus. The University of Manitoba, with a population of 26,832 students has roughly 1,300 residence students on campus, according to Joe Danis, director of Housing and Student life. Currently, Danis says, residences are 97 per cent occupied.
The University of British Columbia, which had the U-Pass put in place since 2003, reports that, since then, the U-Pass has saved students whole $3 million on transportation costs, according to the UBC website.
The fee for the UBC U-Pass comes out to $22 a month.
The UBC U-Pass was “designed as an integrated comprehensive transportation package that provides universal, accessible and affordable access to public transit,” according to the UBC U-Pass information website.
Other institutions, like the University of Toronto, have also instituted a universal transit pass. U of T students pay an annual fee of $89, which grants the student eight months of transit while they are attending school during the regular fall and winter terms.
The University of Manitoba Students’ Union initiated discussions with Winnipeg Transit in 2004, but the U-Pass would have cost $222.30 for a 3.9-month period. Johnson said that the current amount that a student pays for a four-month period is currently $228 at $57 a month (the price of a post-secondary bus pass), so the saving is only six dollars.
Ken Allen, a corporate communications officer at Winnipeg Transit, said that in 2004, Transit surveyed 1,500 students about their desire for a U-Pass. “A calculation was made for the estimation that would have to be included in student fees for the U-Pass [and] this information was provided to the respective student union and the decision was made not to pursue the U-Pass,” he said.
Allen said that he is not aware of further plans to pursue the U-Pass among Winnipeg universities.
