Metro Vancouver U-Pass Student Pricing is Unfair

The whole point of the U-Pass in the first place is to offer a more affordable transportation option for students in the Metro Vancouver area. When the program was first introduced years ago, it was met with some very happy arms. After all, it was great to save that much money on the monthly bus ride to and from school. Unfortunately, not everyone has been perfectly pleased.

That's because the price for the U-Pass is different across the different institutions in the area. At first, the U-Pass was only offered at UBC and SFU, but it has since expanded to include other non-universities in the area. The pricing is different for students at each of these institutions, because Translink is trying to maintain a revenue neutral approach. They total how much money would be spent by the student population and then they divide through by the number of students.

As it stands, the U-Pass costs $23.75 a month at UBC, $26.10 at SFU, and $38 at Langara. That's for a three-zone pass. A regular one-zone pass is $73. Students at other schools like Emily Carr have rejected offers of paying $40-$50 a month, citing that it would be unfair, seeing how students at UBC and SFU pay so much less.

Source: Straight.com

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[ READER COMMENTS ]

1

Oana said:

I'm not sure what you're getting at. How is this unfair? Because different groups of students are paying different rates? Translink's not here to provide a social service, really - they're trying to break even or make a profit.

Posted at 10:10 AM, on August 22 2008

2

Gordon said:

Is is equity or equality? People want fares to be equal when it benefits them, and equitable when that is a better deal. If transit was priced only as a social service, it would become the kind of service nobody in a suit would ride - and that benefits no one. They could all have a pass at the UBC rate if they were willing to forego any extra service, but then they would complain that buses were packed. Can't have your cake and eat it too, time to step back and think about a bigger picture.

Posted at 11:00 AM, on February 3 2009

Metro Vancouver U-Pass Student Pricing is Unfair

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