The obvious problem with the current U-Pass deal is its inability to opt out. For a student on a limited budget who doesn’t require the TTC to get to school every day, paying an extra $480 a year comes at a huge cost. This could represent almost an extra month of rent, or several textbooks.
Admittedly, U of T is a commuter school where a U-Pass is advantageous, but for the minority stuck paying for a useless transit pass, it is an unjust expense. I live only a 10- minute walk from campus, and use the TTC at the most two or three times a week. Why should I have to pay $480 a year for the right to walk to school?
Additionally, the price simply isn’t right. For a student with five days of class a week, the savings are more than decent— approximately $40 a month compared to the normal Metropass price. But when you have only four days of class a week or less, the savings start to evaporate. By purchasing tokens or tickets, each $2.25, taking the TTC to and from class four times a week costs about $72 monthly, which is more than the $60 a month of the U-Pass, until you remember that most students don’t come to school for most of April and December. With three days of class, the U-Pass becomes a losing proposition, costing more than the price of tokens or tickets.
The argument that students will use the UPass once they have it, making the cost justified, is simply ludicrous. I can’t speak for all U of T students, but I personally don’t have the time to traipse around Toronto aboard the Red Rocket. And who in their right mind would spend more time on the TTC than necessary? Between streetcar drivers wound tighter than a cheap watch and the depressing, dirty reality of taking the subway, I spend as little time as possible on public transit. When the weather is warm, and walking, biking, skateboarding, and rollerblading become more attractive options, a $480 U-Pass seems like a white elephant.
Many Canadian universities employ the U-Pass, although at a more reasonable price. Students at McMaster pay $90 of their student fees for unlimited bus service throughout Hamilton for the whole school year. Why should we pay over five times more than that for unreliable TTC service? Why doesn’t the U-Pass cover summer months? Why can’t UTSU or the administration get us a better deal?
U of T students get stuck with enough ancillary fees to fund a small army. If the current U-Pass deal is approved, many of us are going to be taking it where it hurts most: the wallet.
Give us a better deal, Giambrone, or we will walk—literally.
