Post-secondary students looking to opt out of the $30 U-Pass may not have a choice, according to some student associations.
Jordan Harris, student association president at BCIT, said allowing students who don’t take transit to opt out remains to be discussed with TransLink.
“We’ll have a referendum to see if it is a wanted thing on campus. If it is, it will run like everywhere else, where everyone will be paying,” Harris said.
The U-Pass was announced June 9 for all post-secondary students in the Vancouver region.
At $30, it is significantly lower than the roughly $81 some students currently pay for a regular one-zone fare-card. Simon Fraser University and the University of B.C. were the only schools where students paid less for their transit passes.
The $30 per month would be added to tuition fees, but some students say they walk to class.
Keanan Kipp lives on campus at BCIT where she studies broadcast journalism. “(The) $30 a month is pretty expensive for the amount I use transit, especially because sometimes I go for up to a week at a time without leaving campus,”?she said.
Anna Schachner, external co-ordinator with the Douglas College student union, said the U-Pass will benefit the majority of students. “Because it was the students that convinced government to make this announcement, I think it’s going to be passed everywhere,” she said.
