Vancouver has one. Halifax does, too. Same with Calgary and Chicago. Even London, Ontario is a member of this not-so-exclusive club. But Toronto isn’t. Not yet, anyways.
What Toronto doesn’t have that so many other cities — large and small — do is a universal transit pass for post-secondary students. Charged as part of each student’s annual fees, the U-Pass provides unlimited access to public transit from September to April at a significantly reduced rate.
In his 2006 election platform, Mayor David Miller promised to bring a U-Pass to campuses across Toronto after students’ union leaders (myself included) began working in earnest with the TTC on the most recent iteration of the plan in early 2005. However, no mandatory fee can be levied on students without first being approved by referendum so Miller, TTC chair Adam Giambrone and TTC vice-chair Joe Mihevc have been on a road show since late last year encouraging students to bring the idea to referendum at their respective campuses.
Although there are many valid questions that have been asked by students, I believe that the proposed U-Pass, at $60 per month ($51 after the tax credit), is as good a deal as students in Toronto can expect because, without a doubt, this will be a money saver for the vast majority of them.
Before I move on to why I believe this is a good deal for students, let me first provide a bit of background on how the price point was reached.
In 2006, TTC agreed to invest in market research to determine how students commute for all purposes (TTC, GO, car, cycling, walking and combinations of some of the above), how many times students use the TTC, how they pay their fares (cash, tokens, Metropass, etc), whether they’re agreeable to a U-Pass and how much they would use a U-Pass if they had one (there were other questions asked but those are the most important). Using that data, TTC was able to compile figures that tell us how much money students at each campus spend per year on TTC. That number was then used to calculate a monthly average for every student in Toronto (the cost of the U-Pass). That number worked out to about $62 and TTC agreed to reduce it to $60, including a $1 per student administration fee that would pay for the cards and other administrative costs. The TTC also agreed that it would not include the cost of adding additional service to cope with the increased demand by students in the cost of the pass (a value of between $5 and $10 million per year). Additionally, the TTC agreed that when the Metropass price was increased to $109 per month, they would continue to offer students the $60 deal and only increase that price if there were future Metropass price increases and then only by the same percentage as the regular pass was increased to ensure the same ratio of savings for students.
Although a separate price was calculated for each campus, students’ union leaders asked the TTC to average all the numbers together because we were working on the premise that students shouldn’t pay differential transit fares. As a result, commuter campuses (those with high concentrations of 905 students, like York and Seneca College, for example) had an average monthly cost much lower than $60 while several were much higher.
Further, recent negotiations by the TTC with York Region Transit and GO Transit have yielded positive results. For students who use either of those services, the value of the U-Pass can be applied to GO or YRT passes (negotiations are still ongoing with other GTA transit operators).
So, with that in mind, here is my case for why Ryerson, George Brown (Casa Loma and St. Jamestown campuses) and OCAD (generalizations throughout the rest of this post about joining only regard these three schools) should go to referendum on the U-Pass and why the students at those schools should vote in Yes in that referendum.
Other schools, however, should wait until they have better transit that serves their campus and/or the TTC is able to strike a deal with other public transit operators that serve more of their students to ensure that the vast majority of students are well served by this price point. That said, York University and U of T’s Scarborough Campus may find this deal beneficial if they can determine what percentage of their students use YRT and GO Transit, and U of T St. George Campus students will benefit financially (they would receive a $60 pass that is actually worth closer to $76) but not as significantly as Ryerson, George Brown and OCAD.
Because most students have to think about their next rent cheque first, I’ll start with economics as justification for supporting this proposal. Although $60 is billed as the “break even point†by the TTC, it’s really much higher for my recommended schools. At OCAD, the campus with the least number of students who use TTC as, or as part of, their main mode of transportation, the figure is still 78% (includes people who use TTC, Car + TTC and GO + TTC). Because ridership is so high at OCAD, the average student spends $83 per month on TTC fares. Add the $6 discount the TTC is offering because it didn’t increase the U-Pass price when the last fare increase happened and OCAD students are actually getting a pass worth $89 per month for $60. The other campuses all have greater TTC and GO ridership and pay more per month than OCAD students in TTC fares (George Brown at Casa Loma tops the list at 91% and the St. James campus spends the most on transit at $93 per month, not including GO fares, which is significantly more than the VIP Metropass cost at the time this survey was done).
Also, consider that the tax credit for monthly and yearly transit passes will apply to this deal, bringing down the cost for the student to $51 per month (for those students who don’t earn enough to get the credit, my understanding is that it can be claimed through your parents’ tax return). At that price point, a U-Pass holder would have to take two or three round trips per week to break even on their investment.
For most students, saying yes or no to this proposition will be a matter of dollars and cents. Fair enough. However, there are also some important public policy objectives at play here. As someone who believes that ridership needs to increase for our city to be healthy and economically successful, it stunned me to find out that TTC ridership falls off dramatically at the age when most students complete their undergraduate degree (about 22 or 23 years old because they have the means to purchase a car). By providing students with a discounted Metropass, there is a higher likelihood (though by no means certainty) students will lead transit-friendly lifestyles after graduation. Additionally, for those students who drive (it never ceases to amaze me how many Ryerson students cram their car into the garage on Victoria St.) this will be an incentive to get out of their car, thereby lessening their burden on the environment and our increasingly congested roads.
The only way that this U-Pass deal doesn’t stack up is in cost comparison to other cities. However, there are a few key differences between Toronto and other cities that have much lower U-Pass rates. In Mississauga and London, Ontario, for example, the cost is under $100 per year and in Vancouver it’s $25 per month. Why is Toronto so much more expensive? There’s two primary reasons. First, as most readers here know all too well, the TTC is the least subsidized transit system in North America and, as such, relies on the fare box much more heavily to finance the system than anyone who doesn’t sit in Queen’s Park or the House of Commons would like. Second, the smaller cities are essentially building their public transit system on the backs of students. At Western, the London transit system just added a couple of bus routes and used the rest of the money in general revenues. They could do that because most students weren’t riders to begin with so with the exception of adding a little service, the U-Pass was all net revenue. For the TTC it is a very different arrangement because there are so many students who already use the system and it’s in no financial position to offer a larger subsidy to students than it is currently proposing.
Although I realize that it’s hard to get to “yes” sometimes, in other cities, once students went through the difficult period of deciding to start a U-Pass program, the U-Pass became one of the most popular features of campus life. It can in Toronto, too — especially for Ryerson, George Brown and OCAD because of the obvious financial benefit that the U-Pass will bring to the vast, vast majority of their students.
The deal as it stands has been on the table for more than a year now. If students are going to take advantage of the $60 price they will have to make a decision in the near future. However, to this point, students’ union leaders haven’t put this question to their students in the form of a referendum. As time ticks down to the point when $60 becomes $66, it’s my hope the student leadership at Ryerson, George Brown and OCAD will provide their students the opportunity to decide whether they like what the TTC has put on the table. The 78%+ of students who will benefit from a U-Pass should insist on it.
Photo by Locator.
41 comments
“for those students who don’t earn enough to get the credit, my understanding is that it can be claimed through your parents’ tax return”
I know that’s what Councillor Mihevc said, but it’s either mistaken, or my family’s accountant isn’t nearly as good as I thought.
One of the big arguments on this seems to be that the proposed U-Pass is compulsory – meaning that even people who walk or bike to school will be saddled with the cost of the U-Pass – even after the tax reduction it’s over $400 extra per year. Do the other transit systems that offer U-Passes force students to buy them as well?
Additionally, why doesn’t the TTC just extend the student metropass pricing to university/college students – and then roll back the cost from $91.25 or whatever it is to $75 or $80?
My own analysis (and qualified endorsement) can be found here. Bottom line: It’s not nearly as progressive as some people think it is, nor is it even fair — but it’s still probably worth it, as a way to discourage car ownership later in life.
Everyone has to pay in Vancouver. That’s part of why it’s affordable, because of the subsidy. Actually, while it’s officially $25 I think it actually comes out less because there’s advertising on the pass by the credit union subsidizing it.
As I understand it, the elimination of OAC, and a cohort of kids with student metropasses, was part of why UofT got the slight discount it now enjoys.
At Trent we had free access to the transit system with our student card. You could opt out and get a $100 and something refund.
The university actually rented it’s own buses to have special service to the school though, so the situation was a bit different. As well, it is a lot more essential there than here, as the university was located several kilometres from any form of civilization.
I agree that the U-Pass would be a great savings for most students, but what about those of us who live close enough to campus to walk or cycle? We’d have to pay an extra $480 dollars per year to help our transit-using classmates save $138 dollars per year.
If a U-Pass system is proposed, I think there should be an opt-out for people who don’t take take transit to school, and who don’t drive, either.
Yes, I realize that there would be students with cars wanting to opt out. Perhaps a system could be setup to ensure that those who opt out don’t qualify for parking passes, to ensure that car commuters aren’t opting out. I’m sure there will be other problems created by an opt-out system, but I also think they can be solved.
But the idea of struggling to pay my rent while having to subsidize the commuting costs of my living-with-parents-for-free-room-and-board classmates really galls me.
Although it looks like a good deal for students, it’s regressive at heart, because it harms students who live on their own while benefiting students who live with their parents.
As for parents claiming an unused transit pass tax credit, the CRA says only if they’re under 19.
I think I summed up my feelings pretty well elsewhere so I will just paste it here:
“U of T students are some of the most boring people on the planet. No joke. I thought that by coming to U of T, I would be emerged in a large pool of creative, intelligent individuals who were actively engaged in the city in meaningful ways, started interesting projects, or who were at least fun to hang out with.
Obviously I didn’t grow up in Ontario, because this perception of mine was dead wrong.
Living in a St. George Street residence, I swear that even second year students didn’t know how to get to the streetcar stop *two blocks west* of our building, and especially not how to pay for one, how much it cost, or how to request a stop.
If everybody had a Metropass, I would personally tutor U of T students in getting around the city, so they would actually experience life south of College Street.”
The answer to whether the U-Pass is mandatory is yes. It’s mandatory because once you start opting out some groups of people then you have to do others and you keep opting people out to the point that you’re essentially back to the current discounted rate of $96.
U-Passes, where ever they’ve been implemented (I wouldn’t consider Trent’s program a U-Pass), are by definition mandatory for every student.
While I appreciate that some people may not like the U-Pass concept, I must stress that no one is suggesting that it be unilaterally imposed. It will only be implemented if it is approved by students through referendum. I’m a proponent of giving students the opportunity to vote on this deal.
Also, I haven’t referred the U-Pass as a form of progressive redistribution of wealth. It isn’t (though I suppose there will be more subsidy than intended if the schools that I recommended adopt the U-Pass do). What this is is most students coming together with students to benefit personally and to contribute to a more sustainable city.
For students who use either of those services, the value of the U-Pass can be applied to GO or YRT passes (negotiations are still ongoing with other GTA transit operators).
If you mean that they would get $60 off the monthly pass price in return for being required to spend $60, that does not sound like a very good deal for them. York students who take YRT or GO would be required to buy a pass, but would get nothing in return for it.
Better to just let 905-address students opt out if they wish. At places like York University, 50 percent of students apparently take non-TTC transit systems. (Not exactly surprising — York literally borders the 905, so the TTC just doesn’t fully reflect its catchment area, nor that of Toronto students generally: UTM, UTSC, and so on.) I guess this would lead to lots of students claiming a 905 address in order to opt out, but I don’t see that as a big deal. If the TTC were truly worried about that sort of thing they’d try and play nice with their regional counterparts and create a joint offering, rather than the current us-and-them mentality. Maybe with enough 905 “leakage” they’ll be forced to.
Anyway, the Excalibur has good coverage of the U-Pass here. Interestingly, it was still to be priced at $520 as of last January.
As a note to the readers of this article. If there is no UPass deal signed this year, then the price will go up from $60 per month to $65 for next year. So it will be much more pressing for student leaders to sign on this year.
It is unclear to me why university students are the only class who must purchase a TTC pass – how would it go over if the TTC declared that all companies in the VIP programme must sign up 100pc of their staff in order to participate?
Thanks for that, Matt L. I once again have confidence in my accountant. But perhaps someone should tell Councillor Mihevc that his statement wasn’t quite accurate.
I’m not sure that’s a reasonable analogy, Mark. In this case students will get to decide democratically whether they want into the U-Pass. If they don’t, VIP will still be available to them at the current rate.
I guess Mihevc was 75% wrong since most first year students are under 19 (some not getting to 19 until the end of the first semester in second year).
In this case students will get to decide democratically whether they want into the U-Pass.
Democracy is a bit more complicated.
The U-Pass simply acts as a subsidy for commuters. Those of us who pay rent to live near school just end up subsidizing those with cheaper (or free) rent in the suburbs. Not to mention providing an incentive to keep people off their bikes / feet.
I dont understand why the students dont just get free access to the TTC.They have enough of a debt to deal with without another cost added.Students will have enough time to pay later in earned income.
As for putting this to some sort of democratic vote, really??I can only imagine who came up with that idea.I wonder how many fake votes and stuffed ballots will be used to make sure this referendum passes.
As for the deductability and CRA,Joe Mihevic doesn’t have a clue how CRA works or the laws surrounding taxes.I guess he intentionally thought about the first year students and the rest just didn’t count.I doubt if there is a single student that could deduct this cost considering they don’t have any income, Therefore deductions are used only against taxes payable determined by income earned.Adam stop defending Joe Mihevic, invite him to answer for himself we don’t need errand boys here to speak for councillors.
I don’t buy the argument that the pass is “subsidizing commuters” as a few people have mentioned. For most students they do not have the choice of WHERE to live — its been made for them by their parents. Secondly, there is no price difference on the TTC for someone commuting from Northeast Scarborough or for someone living in Parkdale. The Parkdale person needs transit to get to U of T or York or Ryerson just as much as the Scaberian but is not a “commuter” in the typical sense. Thirdly, it is imperative that those from the inner and outer ‘burbs are encouraged to take transit to school.
Lastly, the “subsidizing argument” makes it seem like students who live close to U of T don’t take transit. There are many other things people do all around the city that requires public transit. Bikes are good, but most people will only ride for 8 months a year. Students party and drink and socialize and party. Transit can be used for more things than going to school. School fees go to lots of things that involve Life and not school (free birth control, for example).
If you want to get your money back because you don’t want to pay for it, than make that argument. But don’t try and make it an “Us vs. Them” battle where students living close to school are somehow better because — luckily — their parents live near a a univeristy or pay for their kid to live in residence/student ghetto. I recognize that some students pay their way thru post-secondary but they are certainly in the minority and still have to battle with parents about where they live.
“Errand boy” George? Really? I suspect you skipped the part where Adam was a key player in making this happen.
Get a grip (and off your high horse).
George must think I’m stupid because I’m a student. One day he says Toronto’s bankrupt, the next day we should all break the bank to give 400,000 students free transit. You’re just using me for your lame attempt at political opportunism.
And how about a little respect for the people doing the heavy lifting? At least Adam has something to show for his work. All you lay claim to is “I do stuff behind the scenes that no one sees.” Well stuff that no one sees doesn’t help me. So why don’t you actually do something for a change.
“As for putting this to some sort of democratic vote, really??I can only imagine who came up with that idea.”
George, if you bothered to type “student referendum” into Google.ca, you’d see that these are a dime a dozen at Canadian universities, covering all sorts of fee increases. It’s not some weird end-run around the system. It is the system.
Are all your conspiracy theories so hollow and ill-informed? (I’d always suspected so.)
“I doubt if there is a single student that could deduct this cost considering they don’t have any income.”
Well, there are 1500 income-earning co-op students at the Scarborough campus alone. But even if you forgot about them, how could you possibly think there isn’t a single student who’s working to help pay their way through university? You are either more out of touch or more blinded by the needs of your own rhetoric than any of the councillors you love to criticize.
60 dollars a month? That doesn’t sound like much of a deal. Here are the U-Pass figures at other institutions:
University of Calgary: 60 dollars a semester (yes a semester, not a month)
SAIT (Calgary): 60 dollars a semester
Mount Royal College (Calgary): 91.50 per semester
University of Alberta (Edmonton) : 60 Dollars a semester
University of British Columbia (Vancouver) 22 dollars a month
Simon Frasier (Vancouver): 24.50 dollars a month
And the highest I have ever seen is all institutions at Halifax: 35 dollars a month
I would urge the SUs in Toronto to consider renegotiating this contract. Those prices seem a little bloated to me. Especially since the institutions in Toronto already have higher tuition rate than the other ones and already have a much larger student body than the other institutions.
Sure there are a couple of thousand co-op students, but I’m doubtful as to whether or not that number comes anywhere close to the 73,000 current under/post-graduates at U of T. As for jobs, I don’t think any of the people I know (anecdotal I realize) who work part-time pull the kind of hours or wages that would put them into any kind of tax bracket where you’re looking for deductions.
The reason that this works in other cities is because the cost is so much less. As a grad student at Western I pay ~$50 PER TERM for my bus pass. That’s 4 months of transit for less than the cost of one monthly student pass. In Halifax, where they didn’t pass the UPass until after I’d left the city, the student council forced the decision through after years of referendums denying it. It costs them $116 for the entire school year.
These fees are low enough that people who don’t use the transit system can’t really argue against it, whereas Toronto’s $60/month is – in my opinion – still more than most students can reasonably afford.
I just noticed this statement:
Second, the smaller cities are essentially building their public transit system on the backs of students.
Not sure if that is the case. The University of Calgary has one LRT stop on campus, University Stations covers University of Calgary.Also Brentwood station is quite close to the University. U of C is also a transit hub for the West side of the city. Most of the major busses pass through the University of Calgary.
The University of Alberta has University Station and Health Sciences Station. South Campus Station and McKernan/Belgravia will also be on campus, when they open late this year.
Then SAIT is covered by SAIT, Alberta College of Art and Design, Jubilee Station cover SAIT.
Also the subsidization cost doesn’t work well either. Calgary and Edmonton both have very poor subsidization. That is actually the story right across the country.
Milo: While some students do inevitably live with their parents, there are countless others (myself included) who pay for school themselves and live close to campus by choice. Students living with their parents are those least in need of a subsidy. I live close to the grocery store, the gym, and the bar, and take the subway only on rare occasions. This just adds another $600 to my student debt with no benefit.
While I understand the need to get more people to use transit, those living in Scarborough and travelling to UofT are already among the converted. I can think of much better groups (i.e. people who don’t already use transit) to offer a $60 metropass to.
Angela, that’s a crock. I’m a Ryerson student who wished he had enough money to live downtown. Me and students like me need this pass because I’m tired of KD for dinner 4 nights a week. Saving me $35 a month is like a week of groceries.
You’re also exaggerating the cost. It’s not even close to $600. It’s $480 and even less if you work enough for the tax break.
Will the u-passes be transferrable as well as the monthly passes?
The U-Pass will not be transferable. The pass will have a picture of the holder. Other design/security features have not been determined.
The TTC has promised that the U-Pass will continue to entitle you to park at the lots available to Metropass holders.
But whether they’ll be swipable is, at best, up in the air.
Angela: You said so yourself that you live by campus by choice. I hope that you made that decision knowing it would increase your debt level. I disagree that “students living with their parents are those least in need of a subsidy” – many of those students that live at home (usually by financial reasons and not by choice) also pay for their own tuition/books/food and face the extra burden of paying for commuting costs (I should know – I commuted from Markham to U of T for 6+ years of undergrad/grad school). If there’s a U-Pass out there, it should be availabe to all students.
As for the suggestion that that those who opt out of the U-Pass shouldn’t qualify for parking passes, to ensure that car commuters aren’t opting out – that’s just punishing those who need to drive to school because transit service is just not reliable. To go to UTSC from Brampton would like more than 2 hours on transit – a ride that most of us would probably not want to make when you’re pressed for time and trying to hand in that paper by the 5 pm deadline!
Adam – I think that’s what’s defined as the tyranny of the majority…
Aman:
The UBC and Simon Fraser passes are sponsored by Vancity, a large credit union in B.C. — this is why their cost is so low. I don’t know if the TTC or the universities have considered a corporate sponsorship, but I imagine that idea would run into a lot of static as well.
Molly, the TTC has said that reducing the cost of the pass by $10 per month would require an $8 million revenue source. That’s a great deal of money to find on an annual basis from a corporate sponsor. Though if there were a sponsor ready to step up, this is the type of program that I wouldn’t argue about them sponsoring because it isn’t a core TTC service.
Mark, you may be correct but given the public policy objectives and the fact that a U-Pass provides all students with something of value (though the value is more or less depending on the student), I’m not particularly concerned about the picture you paint in this particular case.
I’m fully behind the idea of this, but could never support it currently, given the bad service levels the TTC provides right now. Queen Car has been well-raked over the coals lately, & my own experience on a number of lines has me wondering if I’m a sucker for having continued to subscribe to the Metropass program for nearly 8 years now.
Forcing people into a bad deal, into bad service, truly lives up to whatever Soviet imagery people against this scheme could paint.
By using the U-Pass, I believe that students would not be more encouraged to take public transit in the future. In fact, I would argue the opposite. As it stands, the TTC does not offer sufficient service. With the little time we have for our personal lives, taking public transit for 1.5 hours (when it would take 30 minutes to drive) is not something young adults want to do. The more we rely on public transit, the more we notice all the corruption in the system, and the less we want to take the TTC. Having used the system since highschool, I cannot wait to be able to afford a car. Time is just as valuable as money, during our age. Having the U-Pass will not encourage us to continue taking the TTC in our futures.
I agree with what Aman said. I really don’t think U of T’s U-Pass Program is a deal. I am from UBC Vancouver, and I always find my U-Pass very convenient. It is a good deal and affordable for $22/month (we can choose to opt-out of the U-Pass program if valid reason is provided, unlike U of T, opt out is not an option). I think U of T should also consider about extending the U-Pass program to part-time students and graduate students.
I am going to U of T (St. George) as a visiting student soon. I thought I could save a lot on bus fares when holding a U-Pass. Apparently, I am not even eligible for one.
A UTSC referendum will be held soon–so go out and vote people!
i’m from the St. George campus, and I’m still sitting on the fence on this issue.
I would love to have a U-Pass. it does save me a lot of money. But I’m not willing to pay 480 for it.
And I still don’t understand why Toronto has to pay that much, while other universities are paying so low. Yes, I read all the “reasons” in this article and comments made by people, but I still don’t get why.
oh well, i’ll probably graduate by the time St. George decides to hold a referendum. And I’ll just maybe buy a car…
I am a student in Chicago and have a U-Pass for the CTA (Chicago Transit). It costs me $80 a semester. I like it alot. It’s helpful for most students.
I’m against the UPass even though I’m a commuter to the St. George campus from Scarborough.
The reason; my stupid bus runs ever “20 minutes” (i.e. every 30-40 mins in reality), therefore I just get a ride from my dad 75% of the time.
UPass=bullshit.
I am a student at the University of Toronto at the St. George Campus. I am strongly in agreement to get a TTC pass because once school begins, who really has the money to dig into their pocket and spend almost one hundred dollars? Even single fairs are so expensive for a student in my opinion and if you make it a token combo is still adds up. U of T is really big right now into promoting Green and being good to the environment, especially our campus because we are in amongst the public day in. I would be forever gracious for this and I do hope it happens. Hopefully there can be a an opt out system like others have said for those who do not need it. There should just be a check box option on returning students tuitions and we can decide. U of T has so much money its unbelievable and I truly believe this is something they should dig into their pockets for. Just think realistically how much quicker it is going for building to building downtown, and most of the time getting home. Try dodging a million cars by foot, in another car or bicycle is just hilarious downtown on a busy morning. Ultimately, this is going to be best for the student body, as long as those that request not to have it don’t have to. Who is really going to drive in their car, especially at the price of gas recently, when they can take the TTC. I love it and proudly support this idea!