The city’s transit committee has voted to lift a controversial age limit on student bus passes, but students are preparing for battle when the issue rises to city council on Sept. 9.
“The real fight will be at council,” said Carleton University Students’ Association president Erik Halliwell. “We recognize that it will be tough, but we’re ready for it.”
In order to overturn the cap, it would require approval from 18 councillors next Wednesday.
As of July 1, full-time post-secondary students over the age of 27 were no longer allowed to purchase monthly bus passes at the student discount.
The decision to implement the age limit was a cost-saving measure intended to save OC Transpo around $220,000 per year — a move that Rideau-Rockcliffe Coun. Jacques Legendre called a cash-grab that targets some of the most vulnerable and talented people in the city.
Though the motion passed unanimously yesterday, Bay Ward Coun. Alex Cullen warned student groups getting support from another 10 councillors would be difficult.
“We will have to deal with where that other $220,000 comes from, because we are not going to send out another tax bill,” he said.
Gaétan Beaulière, external commissioner with the University of Ottawa’s Graduate Students’ Association, said the average age for people receiving a PhD in Ottawa is 33 years old.
