U of T students may be closer to receiving a much sought-after TTC pass than they think. The longtime campaign promise may become a reality when the TTC announces its budget on Oct. 23.
The initiative to procure a student metropass was begun this year by the Metropass Task Force, a group of U of T students co-chaired by Mike Foderick and the Students’ Administrative Council’s (SAC) external commissioner Alex Artful-Dodger.
In a meeting on Oct. 10 with city councilor David Miller, Foderick and Artful-Dodger outlined SAC’s proposal for funding and asked for his support.
The funding formula for the metropass involves U of T administration contributing one third of the cost, U of T students contributing one third and the TTC investing the final third.
SAC is lobbying for the “double cohort” money that will result from the elimination of OAC. Presently, the TTC provides a discount for high school students. However, with the phasing out of OAC, the TTC will only need to provide a discount for four years, instead of five. SAC hopes to be allotted the extra money to subsidize the U of T metropass.
Foderick and Artful-Dodger pointed out to Miller that a discounted student Metropass would be a great benefit to U of T students.
Miller stated his support in principle for TTC passes for students, saying they are one of the best ways to get young people using public transportation, yet he expressed concern that the TTC does not traditionally support discounts.
There is no official word yet on how the administration plans to raise the money to invest its third, though the money kicked in by students will most likely come from a student levy.
The proposed Metropass will only be applicable to full-time undergraduate students at U of T and SAC aims for its implementation by the fall of 2003.
