All Posts Tagged With: "U-Pass"
150 students are victims of identity fraud
Chinese couple made fake student cards
Canada has deported a Chinese couple who stole information from more than 150 Simon Fraser University students, CBC News reports. Siyuan Gu and Jing Wang pleaded guilty in December to using forged student ID cards to obtain U-Passes. They possessed a 500-page printout of information on SFU students that had been obtained by recording keystrokes, provincial court heard. U-Passes are highly valuable because they allow their 80,000 student users unlimited access to transit in Vancouver at a rate of just $30 per month. The regular price is $151 for a three-zone pass. Gu had spent nine years in Canada on an academic visa and Wang is listed as his wife. Earlier this year, TransLink, Vancouver’s transit authority, said that U-Pass fraud amounts to $15-million annually. In the past, much of that fraud was due to people registering for school, dropping out and then illegally re-selling selling their U-Passes on Craigslist.
Students declare “death of affordable transit”
Zombies protest 17 per cent U-Pass increase
Photo by Jane Gerster of The Charlatan
Zombies welcomed public transit users at Carleton University’s main bus stop on Halloween morning. The students in costume were protesting what they called “the death of affordable and accessible transit,” and were collecting signatures from supporters to send to city council.
The protest was a response to the local transit authority, OC Transpo, which announced that Ottawa university students will pay $180 per semester for their universal transit passes (U-Passes) next year. That’s a 17 per cent hike from the $145 they paid this year. According to the Carleton Undergraduate Students’ Association, the new price—$360 a year for most students—means Ottawa and Carleton will have Canada’s most expensive student transit passes.
In contrast, consider that students at Dalhousie University in Halifax pay only $69 per semester.
Continue reading Students declare “death of affordable transit”
TTC wants to renege on part-time student transit pass
If an unbalanced budget is the concern, pass shouldn’t be extended to some groups in favour of others
A new policy recommendation going to Toronto’s city council tomorrow seeks to cut the student transit pass discount for part-time students as of July 31. The Toronto Transit Commission cites lost revenue as the major reason for reversing a decision that’s barely a year old.
In November 2009, the TTC voted to extend the high school student transit pass price ($99) to post-secondary students beginning September 2010. In December, private career college students raised a fuss about being excluded from the new discounted price.
The TTC’s solution: Allow them to receive the discounted price, and exclude part-time students instead. This is a case of a lack of support for part-time students yet again.
The Toronto Star reported on a review of the new pass program, which lead to the policy recommendation now on the table:
“That review says extending the post-secondary-school discount to private college students is too costly. It means $400,000 annually in lost revenues, bringing the total loss under the discount to $7.7 million — with “negligible” gains in ridership.
“So the report is recommending removing part-timers from the program, to mitigate the fare loss by $1.4 million. The move would also reduce the number of riders the TTC expected to gain through the post-secondary passes, from about 500,000 to 400,000.”
Sure, I can understand budget restraints, but taking something away from one group just to give to another is just plain cruel. If your budget is strained in the first place, I would suggest not including new groups in your discount programs until you can afford to do so.
In this case, it’s even more unfortunate as most part-time students study part-time for a reason. Many are supporting dependents, many can’t get enough funding to attend full-time and are therefore forced to work while going to school, and the list goes on.
There are so many pressures on students these days, and this is another example of how under-funding public transit is hurting everyone, including part time students who are doing things like raising dependents and trying to make their own life.
Ottawa students could lose U-Pass
Another referendum needed if transit rate hike approved
Ottawa university students could lose their U-Pass if city council approves a 2.5 per cent fare increase proposed by OC Transpo. The mandatory bus pass program was put in place just this past September at the University of Ottawa and Carleton University. Students had voted in favour of the plan a year ago.
However, because the referendum fixed the cost at $145 per student per term, any increase would require another vote. “It doesn’t matter if [the increase is] $3 or $100. The difference is that there’s no mandate. There’s a mandate from students at $145. There’s no mandate for greater than that,” Tyler Steeves, U of O’s student president, told the Fulcrum. If the increase is approved when the budget comes down in April, a referendum could not be held at either school until the fall. If students approve the plan a second time, the U-Pass could be reinstated in Jan 2012.
Even if this particular fee increase is rejected, another referendum might still have to be held, because the city is considering removing the program’s $3 million subsidy next year. If that were to happen, the cost of the U-Pass would rise to $175 per student.
UOttawa students sue over U-Pass
Plaintiffs say mandatory plan infringes ‘minority rights’
The Student Federation of the University of Ottawa will be going to court after nine students filed suit in small claims court over the U-Pass. The U-Pass is a mandatory program that all University of Ottawa students pay into in exchange for a bus pass. The program was approved by a student referendum in February and came into practice this fall at the University of Ottawa and Carleton University. The plan costs students $145 per semester.
Nicolas Fleet, one of the parties to the claim told the Ottawa Citizen that he is “concerned about student liberties” and that he is a “victim of the U-Pass,” because there is no option to opt out of the program, even for students who live in residence or close to the campus. “I think it’s an issue of minority rights, that as people who live close to our downtown campus we are being marginalized and ignored,” he said. The plaintiffs also allege that the referendum process flawed, that it lacked a clear question and an impartial process for reviewing complaints.
U of O’s student president, Tyler Steeves told the Citizen he was disappointed. “They’re trying to make a point, I get it. But it’s unfortunate that student money is going to be wasted defending this thing.”
UPass hits a bump in the road
One contract for all B.C. students causing friction
Back in June, the BC government announced, with great bravado, that a province-wide transit pass would be available to all post-secondary students for $40 a month. Politicians get to look sustainable, students save a buck. A slam-dunk, right?
Er, no.
The deal is contingent on a) Students voting in favour of the pass via referendum, and b) Student unions signing off on the contract between them and the government. A contract which, as of now, will require all students to pay for the pass, whether they use it or not. And in the case of Kwantlen University, both issues are at play right now, which has caused them to miss a deadline for having the transit pass implemented by January.
Causing tension is the fact that transit to and around Kwantlen’s mutiple campuses in the Fraser Valley can be quite scattershot, to put it mildly. In September, students raced on bike and foot to beat buses that went between the school’s Surrey and Langley campuses—and the buses lost.
Naturally, students wonder if paying $40 a month for a system they may not be inclined to use is actually worthwhile, and there’s a push to allow Kwantlen students to be able to opt out of the plan if they want. However, the government wants one contract for all post-secondary institutions, which is causing some friction, according to the Georgia Straight.
No doubt this will eventually get resolved—but it will be interesting to see if the provincial government budges on this, or whether intra-student union solidarity will break first.
U-Pass gets started in Ottawa
Students dinged $290 for mandatory program
University students in Ottawa will see their tuition rise by nearly $300 in order to fund a compulsory U-Pass program that begins Wednesday. Both the University of Ottawa and Carleton have been busy handing out bus passes to eligible students, the cost of which is affixed to tuition.
After years of lobbying by the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO) and two failed votes at City Council, the U-Pass was approved last February after Carleton was recruited to the plan. Referendums, required for the imposition of new fees, were then handily passed at both universities. Previously, a student bus pass would set students back at least $500 for an academic year. The U-Pass costs $290. “Its about making transit more affordable for students, promoting a ridership culture and making a real dent in some sustainability issues,” Dina Skvirsky, vice-president student issues for the Carleton University Students’ Association says.
So far the University of Ottawa has distributed more than 8,000 passes and Carleton more than 7,000. “From an administrative perspective, its been a success,” says Ryan Flannagan, Carleton’s director of student affairs. Although Carleton University did not explicitly endorse the plan, it will be administering it on behalf of the students’ association.
Alex Cullen, chair of City Council’s transit committee, is thrilled that the plan is underway because it will help the city reach its goal of having 30 per cent of all trips in Ottawa being taken through OC Transpo. “What attracted us to it, is that we’d be able to capture a large number of students who are taking OC Transpo,” he said. However, there are no immediate plans to make improvements to transit. “Both universities are already on high frequency transit lines,” Cullen said.
Despite providing reduced transit passes for students, not everyone is happy with the new fee. Charlie Taylor, who studies journalism at Carleton, is running for mayor and opposition to the U-Pass forms a central plank in his platform. “By forcing people to buy the product, you no longer have the motivation to provide a good product at a reasonable price,” he said. “They’ve got a captive consumer base now. They can basically do whatever they want.”
Other than exemptions for those with disabilities who already have bus passes provided for them, students from Quebec, and those who will be away studying afield, the U-Pass fee will be universally applied to all full-time students at both universities.
For students who currently cycle or walk to school, Skvirsky says that they can still make use of the U-Pass on evenings and weekends. “Most students do take transit and we do got a mandate from our members,” she said.
As for students who live outside of OC Transpo’s jurisdiction, Ted Horton, vice-president university affairs for the SFUO, says they actually have the most to gain from the plan, through Transpo’s Park n’ Ride program. The program permits drivers to park their cars at transit stations for free, and then ride the bus. A parking pass at the University of Ottawa costs $700 between September and April. “All feedback, both positive and negative, however, has been overshadowed by the vast number of students who have contentedly filed through the University Centre to pick up their U-Pass without complaint,” he says.
Cullen says the U-Pass will help to recoup costs from those who don’t pay taxes in Ottawa but nonetheless make use of city services. “Those folks ought to be using Transpo . . . they drive on our roads which they don’t pay for,” he said.
The pilot program will be reevaluated by city council next year to determine if it succeeded in increasing ridership without becoming too costly. U-Pass programs have been implemented at several universities across Canada, including at Brock University and the University of Alberta. The British Columbia government announced a plan in June to bring a U-Pass to all students attending a public university.
photo by Dick Penn
Why not use tuition to fix potholes?
A U-Pass compels students who don’t use transit to subsidize not just other students, but everybody
A student running to be mayor of Ottawa is opposing a U-Pass program set to launch in the fall. Charlie Taylor, a Carleton University journalism student, says the mandatory buss pass approved at his school and the University of Ottawa earlier this year, should have an opt out option. And so it should. U-Pass programs, that affix the cost of a bus pass to tuition, punish students for living in close proximity to their university, or for cycling, or for carpooling, or for living too far away for transit to be a prudent choice. Student transit users on the other hand will see their fares reduced. City council approved the program in February and there were referenda subsequently held at both universities, a prerequisite for bringing in new fees.
As an internal subsidy funded through tuition U-Pass programs see money flow from students who don’t use the bus towards those that do. But it is not just the fact that students will have no choice but to pay for transit that should raise suspicions, it is the nature of the subsidy–the fact that transit is not a service directly related to education. Student fees are used for all sorts of on campus services that are not universally used (unfortunately, libraries fall into this category), but the difference is that most such services are part of running a university. Transit is a municipal, and sometimes provincial, responsibility.
Any improvements made to transit systems as a result of U-Pass schemes like this, that have been popping all over the country in recent years, will not only benefit students but all bus riders. So students who don’t take the bus are not just subsidizing other students, they are subsidizing everybody. Why does that make any sense?
And, no, the fact that the U-Pass was a brought in after a student poll doesn’t legitimize it. The university population turns over every few years, and, so, the legitimacy of a student vote quickly vanishes.
Taking money from tuition to fund municipal infrastructure projects, or to promote a “transit culture,” or to support environmentally sensible choices, is, I suppose, one way for city governments to accomplish their goals. Another way would be to, uh, fund it through the regular taxation system. Of course that would require using property taxes or expending political capital to lobby other levels of government for funding, or for new taxation powers. Extracting money through tuition, from students who will only be in school for a few years, is much easier. I imagine students who walk or bike to school encounter potholes, so why couldn’t we use student fees to fix that problem?
Of course student unions are the ones who actively lobby the government for U-Pass programs. But isn’t it odd that when tuition is being raised for purposes weakly related, if at all, to a university education that student unions are so supportive, but when tuition increases are proposed for more direct educational services, they fly off the handle?
I doubt Taylor has much of a shot at the mayor’s office, but if he helps to raise the U-Pass as a municipal issue, which it is, as opposed to an educational issue (students are broke!) then good for him.
U-Pass: A gift to students or evidence of a ‘nanny state’?
At a cost of $20-million, the UPass is no longer about post-secondary affordability
When British Columbia premier Gordon Campbell announced the creation of a universal $30/month transit pass for all post-secondary students in the province yesterday, the Canadian Federation of Students applauded the move.
“The U-Pass is an investment in the next generation, in the economy and the environment,” Nimmi Takkar, chairperson of the Canadian Federation of Students–BC was quoted as saying in a press release. “This program is going to make a major difference in students’ lives and go a long way towards building a transit culture in British Columbia.”
Just as fast as the CFS media machine cranked out its press release, opponents to the move started decrying the U-Pass announcement as a draconian, paternalistic move typical of our “nanny state.” One reader who responded to On Campus’s news story argued that “students are forced to pay whether they ride the bus or not” despite Translink’s “crappy” service, and who the hell are you anyways to tell me I shouldn’t drive my car?!
Such critics are right about one thing: the policy is not so much allowing students to “access” affordable transportation as it is compelling them to buy in. Nevertheless, none of the schools will sign on until the U-Pass is approved through a student referendum. Although I’m sure it’s annoying for car-loving, suburb-dwelling students out there to be outnumbered by their more green-conscience colleagues, that’s how our democratic society works–so live with it.
The U-Pass isn’t a new idea, but this announcement marks an interesting deviation from the original intent of the program that is worth noting. Originally, the program was intended to be revenue-neutral; basically, Translink would add up its cost of providing transit to a campus then split that cost among the students of that school, regardless of whether they took the bus or not. Translink didn’t make any money off the deal, but they didn’t lose any either. In essence, non-transit-using students subsidized the cost of a transit pass for everyone else. This is why negotiations for U-Passes at other colleges and universities in the Lower Mainland broke down; while the economics of the program made sense at big schools like UBC and SFU, the cost per student was significantly higher elsewhere, and student unions there wouldn’t accept the higher cost.
And so yesterday’s announcement represents a major shift in the philosophy of the project. The $30/month U-Pass is set to cost the provincial government some $20 million. No longer is this a revenue-neutral feel-good program, but a significantly expensive one. And, if this is truly about lowering expenses for students, it’s worth considering whether that $20 million would be better spent on, say, provincial needs-based grants.
But that argument is moot. Because the reality is that the U-Pass program is no longer about affordability, if it ever was, but about promoting a shift towards the “transit culture” Takkar refers to in the CFS release. Using economic means to push people into making more environmentally-friendly choices is par for the course here in B.C., where the country’s first carbon tax was implemented and where car-drivers have long subsidized transit through Translink’s gas tax.
My point is that this program should be recognized for what it is, rather than congratulating ourselves for supporting broke students. And that’s where The Province newspaper hits the nail on the head: “But why should students be singled out? Why is a 19-year-old university student any more worthy of government support than another 19-year-old starting out in life in a job? If the aim is to promote post-secondary education, a more direct way is to further subsidize tuition.”
If we accept the notion that the U-Pass isn’t the best way to subsidize post-secondary education, then the question becomes: is it fair to force students to purchase transit passes that they may not use in the name of promoting transit? Is it appropriate for universities to administer a fee that is fundamentally driven by the desire to shift society?
I don’t have the answer to those questions. But, for the record, I rode my bike to the office today in the rain.
All B.C. students to get U-Pass
Monthly bus fare lowered to $30 for all post-secondary students
Every transit-going student at a publicly funded institution in B.C. will be privy to a universal U-Pass come September 1. The provincial government will be investing $20 million over three years to implement the program, Premier Gordon Campbell announced today. The change comes after years of frustration from smaller Vancouver colleges and universities who were unable to negotiate a U-Pass deal with transit authorities at the same rate as larger institutions like the University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser University.
Students at participating schools will have access to a U-Pass for $30 per month, or approximately $50 less than a regular bus pass. Students at UBC and SFU who currently pay less than that amount will see their rates unchanged until 2011, at which point the rates will rise. At schools, such as Langara College and Capilano University, where the rates are above $30, the cost will drop in September. In other regions of the province the rates could be less than in metro Vancouver.
“This fulfils our commitment to establish a universal U-Pass program for all students studying at B.C. colleges and universities,” the premier said. “Students will enjoy the benefits of discounted transit passes to help with the costs of getting to and from school.”
The Canadian Federation of Students hailed the policy. “The Province and TransLink are to be congratulated for implementing a common U-Pass program for Metro Vancouver at an attractive price,” CFS-B.C chairperson Nimmi Takkar said. “Affordable transit will be of tremendous benefit to post-secondary students in British Columbia and the communities where they live.”
Participation in the plan will be subject to approval via student referenda.
We want a sweet deal!
Kwantlen students remind BC Premier of U-Pass campaign promise—with chocolate
Students from Kwantlen University visited the B.C. Legislature last Thursday with a sweet gift for the premier. Derek Robertson, KSA External Affairs Director, presented a giant chocolate U-Pass to remind legislators of the Liberal government’s campaign promise to deliver a standard transportation program for all post-secondary students. That promise was not mentioned in last week’s budget.
“We wanted to do something creative to highlight this ‘outside-the-box’ option to affordably implement its 2009 campaign promise to deliver a U-Pass program for all B.C. students,” said Robertson. ”We are hoping this gift reminds the premier and his transportation leaders that we need them to sweeten the deal for students that are struggling to get around in this tough economy.”
While Simon Fraser University and the University of British Columbia students have long enjoyed the benefits of the U-Pass, a number of colleges and smaller universities in British Columbia have been lobbying Translink — the regional transportation authority in the Lower Mainland — and government for access to the program for years. However, the formula Translink uses to calculate the cost of the program to students (the U-Pass is intended to be revenue neutral) isn’t as economically efficient in some circumstances as it is at SFU and UBC, particularly for schools with multiple campuses spread out over long distances. This has led to a stalemate between Translink and students’ union, which believe students should be entitled to the most affordable U-Pass option.
The Kwantlen Students Association is pushing the BC government to subsidize local transit authorities with $10 for each student who is given a U-Pass.
Are you too old for a student bus pass?
Students call age limit on discounted passes ageism, cash grab
As of July 1, student bus passes in Ottawa will only be available to those 27 and younger – and some students are not too happy about it.
Older students must now pay the full adult rate for a monthly pass, $84.75, instead of a $65.25 student monthly pass. They can no longer purchase semester or annual student passes, which offer additional savings.
Student outrage has sparked a Facebook group with nearly 1,500 members as of July 16. Student leaders in Ottawa condemned the new policy, which passed last December.
“If you’re a student, you’re a student,” says Erik Halliwell, president of the Carleton University Students’ Association. “Many people are still in school after the age of 27, and many people are going back to retrain during the recession.”
He says the change affects about 3,300 students at Carleton University, including over 1,000 undergraduate students.
Algonquin College Students’ Association president Mike Hirsch calls the change “a tremendous mistake” that “unfairly disadvantages a very large demographic at Algonquin College” in a letter to the Ottawa Citizen.
Although Hirsch could not be reached for comment, Halliwell says the ACSA is circulating a petition to remove the age limit.
Halliwell says he also intends to petition city councillors, and thinks the issue could become important in the 2010 municipal election. City council cannot revisit the issue until next year unless a special motion passes with support from 75 per cent of city councillors.
Representatives from the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa have also expressed concern, but could not be reached for comment.
Some students are expected to attend tonight’s Pedestrian and Transit Advisory Committee meeting to plead their case, but Halliwell says the student union is preparing to confront council in September.
Several students have posted much harsher criticisms on a Facebook group called “Against the Age-Cut Off for Student Bus Passes.” Complaints range from “discrimination based on age” to “cash grab,” though some students have defended the policy.
The age limit will save Ottawa’s public transit service, OC Transpo, about $220,000 a year, according to the motion passed by council. The limit is based on the amount of time a student would take to achieve a doctorate if they were in school continuously.
OC Transpo’s revenues are down this year after a 51-day strike by employees took buses off the road. Several other changes have been made to increase revenue, including increased prices for bus fares, tickets and passes. Council also rejected a proposal for a universal student transit pass at the University of Ottawa last March.
U-Pass fraud in Vancouver, says CBC
Investigation finds 35 students selling student transit passes online
According to a CBC News investigation, about three dozen Vancouver university students are illegally selling their discounted transit passes online for a profit, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
The so-called U-Passes, which have a photo on the front and are non-transferable, are used by as many as 70,000 students at the University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University, Capilano University and Langara College.
The price of the passes ranges from around $100 to $150 for four months, depending on the school, and allows unlimited travel on all of Vancouver’s public transit vehicles (including the light-rail SkyTrain and aquatic SeaBus). The cost is automatically added to students’ tuition fees regardless of whether or not they use public transit.
An equivalent pass, for four months, would cost a regular transit user $544.
Searching the classifieds website Craigslist, the CBC investigation found that 35 students were selling their U-Passes online. The team then met the students in person and filmed them with a hidden camera. Some of them said they have no use for the passes, and sell them every year.
One student told the CBC that bus drivers don’t usually check the pass photo against its carrier, and that they usually “just flash it” when getting on the bus.
In an attempt to test the drivers, CBC sent one of its white female producers on a bus, armed with the U-Pass of a male East Asian student. The female producer flashed the pass at three different bus drivers, “none of whom batted an eye,” although she later paid the fare after telling the drivers about her experiment.
A spokesperson for TransLink, Vancouver’s transportation agency, says bus drivers can’t slow down boarding to check holders of the discounted passes, and increasing policing would cost more than a crackdown would save.
He also says it’s hard to quantify how much the company is losing to U-Pass reselling.
For more on this story, click here. For a video report, click here.
