EDITORIAL BY JEANYLYN LOPEZ
Oakville Transit director Barry Cole said he’s proposed that Sheridan get a U-Pass for seven years, but has been repeatedly turned down by the Student Union. The SU maintains students aren’t interested.
Yet, in a recent survey conducted by the Sheridan Sun, 90 per cent of students said they want a U-Pass. The poll was conducted in person and through social media. More than 460 students responded in six days. Although only about half of those who took part were transit users, o f those who don’t use the bus, 83 per cent still said they would want a U-Pass.
A U-Pass is a card that allows unlimited fare-free rides on local transit. Each semester, students would pay a mandatory fee to support the program. To board the bus, the U-Pass holder simply shows the bus driver the pass.
MORE RELATED TO THIS STORY:
- Survey shows students wouldn’t pass up a U-Pass
- Student Union takes a pass on U-Pass
- SU and college scramble to fix shuttle bus mess
Many schools already have the program, including the University of Toronto Mississauga, Wilfrid Laurier University, the University of Western Ontario, McMaster University, Fanshawe College, Carleton University, the University of Ottawa, Langara College, Douglas College and the University of British Columbia.
With students worrying about tuitions fees, living expenses, textbook prices, parking passes, gas and more, a U-Pass would be a value to students who have a never-ending list of expenses.
The last time our Sheridan’s SU surveyed students on U-Passes was in 2010. That’s when gas prices were $0.91 a litre, student parking passes were just $306, HMC was still a year away from opening and there were about 2,000 fewer students attending the college.
Four years later, gas prices are well over a dollar a litre and parking passes are up more than 30 per cent.
Transit routes and the frequency of buses have improved in Mississauga, Oakville and Brampton.
The college has since expanded to 18,000 full-time students, and we’re expected to grow to 21,000 by 2016 after Phase 2 of HMC’s expansion is completed.
Even though driving may have seemed more appealing in 2010, the majority of students who took the SU’s survey still said they were interested in using a bus pass for more than one function. Of students who lived in Oakville, Mississauga and Brampton and went to Trafalgar, STC and Davis Campus, 68 per cent said they would use the pass to commute to school. Only 16 per cent said they would not use the pass at all.
Despite repeated claims by SU stating there is little demand from students for a U-Pass, the college and SU are now each paying about $283,000 annually for the shuttle bus program that launched in the fall. The school also spends about $4,000 a week to run a third shuttle bus that only runs approximately six hours a day.
Sheridan did not anticipate the number of students who would use the service, which currently leaves many waiting in long lines, only to get onto an overcrowded bus, if they get on at all.
Instead of implementing a shuttle bus program that only allows students to commute between campuses, it’s time the SU takes another look at the U-Pass.
A pass that would allow students with a part-time job to save money while they balance work and school.
A pass that would allow students living on and surrounding campuses to commute to whichever grocery store they want so they can buy whatever they want.
A pass that would allow students to explore different cities in the GTA.
A pass that would let them go out with friends without worrying about loose change or loading a PRESTO card.
A pass that would ease up on the wallets of students who need and use transit every day.
SU spares no expense letting us know about hypnotists, Nintendo-themed pub nights and PlayStation 4 contests with posters splattered all across campuses. But how much do they really advocate for the interest of students?
It’s time the SU stopped being party central and started working to help alleviate the financial burdens of Sheridan students.
Comments
5 responses to “Student Union should stop saying ‘screw you’ to U-Pass”
Any updates on the progress of getting a U-Pass?
We need it now! Vast majority wants it. Lets hurry up and get this into motion. How can Sheridan want to become a University but not even listen to their customers; the students!
Well, just like gas prices, the upass prices will go up every year! I feel as if the sun is just being so biased with their constant negative comments about the student union. The fact of the matter is that there are way too many students driving to school vs taking the transit. Having to pay an extra fee on top of the already expensive parking pass is not anybody’s cup of tea. 2-3% of the student population is still not a valid sample of the 20,000 this fee would be implemented on which we cannot opt out of. Heck, I’m not paying a $300something fee on top of my already high tuition. Also, I use the shuttle and/or drive depending on my mood, and they are always full! Why? Because it takes shorter time for me to take the shuttle from HMC to TRC vs me having to take three different buses which will take what? Over an hour and a half for me to get to where I want. Plus, the upass doesn’t even cover the GO bus! An essential part of the commute from square one to TRC. I’d rather not waste my time in something that won’t be useful. Like what do you want to do? Boycott the su or something?
I would just like to chip in that I don’t use public transit, I live decently far off-campus so I drive every day. It’s bad enough I have no choice but to pay for a parking pass, I would be pretty pissed if I was forced to opt in to a program paying for buses I never use on top of those costs. There should definitely be some kind of options for students who are facing rising transit costs but they should not be at the expense of students who do not use transit.
I totally agree with this article. Sheridan definitely needs to start implementing the upass system.
I keep hearing that the main reason why Sheridan turns it down is because of cost and that some people will never use the upass. However, in a previous news article Sheridan said that the students pay a shuttle bus fee in order to keep them running so it’s not 100% free. Your ripping off the people who don’t use the shuttle, the same people your protecting because you said they could get ripped off with the upass.
I rather pay for a upass. Get rid of the shuttle bus fee that’s bundled in our student fees and add the upass. I think more people would use a upass than the shuttle bus and it would be more reliable and convinient and reach way more places.
The only people who benefit from the shuttle are students that live next to one of the three campuses. That’s just impracticle.
Great Article! I’m guessing your for the Upass then, as a technical student allow me to weigh in paragraph for paragraph:
Why has Barry cole been turned down? Is it Upass or is it SU?
Your survey is powerful however 460 students out of approximately 20,000 is 2-3% of students only
As anecdote from university friends that use upass, it only works in their cities and doesn’t usually incorporate Go Transit, meaning that students in Toronto, Stoney Creek, Hamilton, Burlington, Milton, Niagra, Georgetown, Scarborough, Oshawa, Barrie, etc. cannot enjoy the benefit, the flip side is that it useful for Sheridan residents and surrounding neighbor hood where they can travel
Locally.
Covering a few paragraphs Upass would be mandatory for all driving commuters to Sheridan which may save gas but it could also aggravate the people that aren’t covered by Upass range and have to drive.
To subject of cost, what is the cost of Upass versus the shuttle bus? I’m wondering if it’s cheaper or not? Cheaper would be a good thing, especially as a student working more than one job to pay for school.
To your point about student union, in my humble opinion l, I have only seen poster for these events which I imagine are cheap, a Nintendo night for 20,000 students? That’s cheap entertainment, however the party central thing is true, maybe they should look at this again.