Sep. 06, 2006 - Issue #568: Sex in the City
The wheels on the bus go ‘round and ‘round (and ‘round)
The “U-Pass” has been an unfulfilled election promise for U of A student politicians for so long, it’s almost become a joke on campus.
Ten years of negotiations with the city and university administrators have yielded few results. But Students’ Union President Samantha Power says her organization will finally put the U-Pass question to students in a spring 2007 referendum.
The Transportation and Public Works Committee of Edmonton City Council will meet on Sep 19 to finalize a recommendation to council’s budget committee. Once city and university contributions to the plan have been approved in principle, the Students’ Union will have a concrete dollar figure to present to students. If passed, U of A students will have unlimited transit access beginning in fall 2007.
Campuses across Canada have implemented the U-Pass, but it is often controversial. All students pay a flat fee for transit services, regardless of whether they use the system or not.
U-Pass advocates must secure student support for higher fees in a referendum. Benefits include low-cost transit, more frequent service with better routes, lower emissions in urban centres, reduced demand on roadways around campuses and less pressure on universities to build parking garages rather than classrooms or research facilities.
Opposition to the U-Pass generally comes from students who prefer to drive to school. Others simply oppose the addition of yet another mandatory fee on top of yearly increases for tuition, books and an ever-growing list of other compulsory fees.
Proponents argue that the U-Pass is a significant reduction in costs for students who already use transit, and an enticing incentive for those who drive to school as parking fees escalate.
City councillor Kim Krushell—a former student politician
herself—says that the U-Pass is the key to expanding the transit
system, which benefits the whole city. Krushell has championed the U-Pass
since she was elected in 2004.
“The mandatory fee encourages ridership,” said Krushell.
“And that’s exactly what we need—bums in seats. If we
don’t have bums in seats, we can’t justify the expansion of the
LRT or better rapid bus transit services.”
At the University of Victoria, the proportion of students taking transit went
up 20 per cent within a year of U-Pass implementation, while at the
University of British Columbia, transit use increased by 53 per cent within
four years of introducing the U-Pass.
U-Passes across Canada range in price from $50 - $98 per semester. Power says
she expects the U of A pass will cost students about $75 a term.
“We are asking the city to approve a U-Pass at $90 per term,” she
said. “That means a subsidy of $30 per student by the city, as their
studies have shown that the project will cost them $120 per term for 31,000 U
of A undergrads.
“The university has promised that there will be a financial
contribution to U-Pass … but they haven’t given us any
guarantees,” continues Power.
Power says the U of A administration knows they have to contribute enough to
make it saleable to students. Students’ Union briefing documents for U
of A Students’ Council show that students are unlikely to support
anything over $80 a term, a threshold identified in a 2002 survey. A 2004
referendum to gauge student support for a $60 per term U-Pass saw the
proposal pass with 63.3 per cent of the vote in favour.
The university administration is expected to come to the Sep 19 meeting with
a real financial commitment to the U-Pass, says Power. If they don’t,
she adds, the whole project will be dead in the water.
“We’ve been to this committee three times before,” Power
notes. “But this is the final time. Council has the final numbers [from
transit authorities, the university and students] to put it into budget to
make it work. If it doesn’t move forward this time, it won’t at
all.”
It has taken a decade to get to this point, says Power, partly because of
tight city budgets—a problem that was partially solved by the Spring
2005 federal budget, which included a significant increase in transfers to
cities for transit investments. The idea has been given a further push
forward due to a new mayor and the election of Councilor Kim Krushell.
“It’s been frustrating, over the years, to get people to
understand the very obvious benefits of the U-Pass,” says Power.
“But [the mayor, council and the university] are finally getting the
message.”
The U of A is the last university in the province to negotiate a U-Pass.
The University of Calgary and four Calgary colleges have had a U-Pass for
more than five years.
The University of Lethbridge Students’ Union will put a $52.50 per term
U-Pass to referendum next month. Student surveys, studies and negotiations
with city transit authorities have taken just 12 months. Student advocates
say a supportive transit bureaucracy, with clear direction from a progressive
council and mayor, have made all the difference.
“We’ve moved quickly because we don’t have to explain the
benefits to LA Transit the university, or city council—everybody gets
it,” says U of L Students’ Council member Andy Davies.
“The City of Lethbridge understands that the extra buses, routes and
drivers are part of a growing city, and they are willing to make those things
a financial priority because the benefits—in terms of traffic
congestion, CO2 emissions, expanding the transit system, building an
attractive, well-planned city, and lower road maintenance
budgets—outweigh the costs.”
Twelve other campuses across Canada have a U-Pass. At UBC, where students,
the city and administration have implemented a comprehensive traffic demand
management strategy, vehicle traffic decreased by 9.7 per cent after the
U-Pass, taking an estimated 8 000 single vehicles off the road.
Beyond the environmental benefits, proponents also argue that universal
public transit for students opens up housing options, allowing students to
choose lower-cost housing beyond walking distance from campus. The U of A SU
also says a U-Pass will introduce many more people to the benefits of public
transit during formative years in their adult lives.
University of Alberta public affairs staff could not locate a spokesperson to
be interviewed for this article. University Provost Carl Amrhein is
responsible for the file. V
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