The University of Toronto Students’ Union (UTSU) advocates for various student initiatives, including affordable housing, food costs, and transit. With the launch of the UTSU Rideshare Program’s latest iteration, the union continues to promote transportation initiatives like the universal transit pass, or U-Pass.
The Varsity spoke with the UTSU, transit advocates, and community members to discuss student initiatives and transit needs.
Union advocacy
In an interview with The Varsity, UTSU Vice-President Public & University Affairs (VP PUA), Avreet Jagdev, discussed the union’s transit initiatives.
“I think [transit advocacy is] incredibly important. It’s what students rely on to get to campus and not just to class, but to work, to appointments, and just to participate in their daily lives.”
Jagdev recently attended a special TTC board meeting on January 10, where members approved the 2025 operating budget to freeze fares at 2023 rates and increase service.
“I thought it was really important to be there to speak for U of T students and the importance of some of the things that were on the table with this budget,” said Jagdev. “I’m very happy that it was approved. I think it’s a win for students.”
The main project Jagdev and her team have been working on is the TTC Pass Program, first introduced during the union’s November board of directors (BOD) meeting. However, details about the project remain unclear.
Sharan Vaidyanathan, executive assistant public & university affairs, shared details about the program in an interview with The Varsity. The union plans to provide students with free TTC tickets for a 15- to 20-week duration, allowing them to collect one ticket per day and up to three tickets per week from the Student Commons.
“A big part of this program is definitely to gauge interest in a program that is administered by the union. And also for just giving people relief,” said Vaidyanathan.
The goal is to launch the program by late January to early February and extend it for the remainder of the 2024–2025 academic year.
Another significant initiative that the union is working on is a U-Pass for students. The U-Pass would provide unlimited, fare-free rides on the TTC, prepaid through tuition fees. Currently, UTM is the only campus offering a U-Pass, and the UTSU first mentioned the program during their August BOD meeting.
Jagdev noted that discussion about the U-Pass began early in her term. The union plans to collaborate with other post-secondary student unions, such as those at York University and Toronto Metropolitan University, to make the program affordable for students across the city. However, the initiative has faced difficulties.
“Unfortunately, we did not get too far with that program,” said Jagdev. “It’s been difficult collaborating with such a wide range of people, which we are still trying to do, but that is one of the main reasons that we started the TTC free pass program instead, just because we find this to be a lot more manageable.”
The union is still exploring the possibility of a U-Pass, but Jagdev noted, “To be honest, we don’t see it happening in this term, maybe in the next term.”
“Ride the Rocket”
While the UTSU continues to advance its transit advocacy, another student group has also been active in this area.
In an interview with The Varsity, Rudy Yuan, a third-year student studying international relations and German studies, discussed the University of Toronto Rocket Riders — UTSG’s first transit-oriented club, named after the TTC’s old slogan, “Ride the Rocket.” Yuan serves as the club’s co-president.
The group was founded following last year’s UTSU elections, during which club Co-President Elijah Miller-Buza ran unsuccessfully for VP PUA against Jagdev. Yuan and Miller-Buza established the Rocket Riders to continue advocating for improved transit options.
“We wanted to create this club to keep the momentum going that we had on the campaign, to make sure there was someone on campus who was always speaking about transit issues,” said Yuan.
According to the U of T Student Organization Portal, Rocket Riders aims to hold the UTSU, university administration, and government accountable for transit initiatives.
“We’ve been in conversation with UTSU officials, elected and not elected, to discuss their transit advocacy priorities, what they think is best for students, and how we can work together on some of these fronts,” said Yuan.
Yuan believes the TTC Pass Program that is being implemented by the union is “very helpful with affordability, especially in the absence of other affordability-related measures from the TTC for students.”
One option for students to save is the post-secondary monthly TTC pass — which costs $128.15 — but Yuan believes it’s “very expensive” and that, in order to get what you pay for, you would have to commute to campus five days a week: something that most commuter students don’t do.
One of their main concerns is the union’s approach to implementing a U-Pass, with Yuan expressing, “It does not seem to be something that anyone is immediately [or] actively working on.”
“We are aware that a lot of the current UTSU [executives] ran on a promise of introducing a U-Pass, and that is something that they have spoken to us about, but progress on that seems to be not forthcoming.”
Yuan is concerned that the U-Pass may have to go to a referendum for students to vote on. In 2018, the UTSU held a referendum on the U-Pass, but it ultimately failed.
“That’s why we focused our efforts on things like fare capping or student fares because there were ongoing efforts with other organizations that are not at the student level… that we can add our voices to,” said Yuan.
Currently, Rocket Riders is working on a student survey to gauge students’ main transit concerns.
Student transit needs
In an email to The Varsity, Alexia Goncalves, a fourth-year studying criminology and political science, wrote that “advocates and student unions (UTSU) should address transit initiatives for students by being aware of the sacrifices made [by] commuter students.”
Goncalves commutes to UTSG twice a week from London, Ontario, using a bus due to the high costs of taking the VIA rail. She believes that commuter students make many sacrifices, such as travelling an entire day for just one or two classes, spending large amounts of money on transit costs and food, being unable to attend social events, and experiencing mental strain from long commutes.
“In my opinion, commuting to Toronto is ‘not for the weak’ because it usually takes me 3 hours when traffic is moving smoothly, but it can take me longer when traffic is heavy or an accident occurs on the highway,” wrote Goncalves.
When asked how advocates and unions should address student transit needs, Goncalves wrote that they should do so “by providing more funds and accommodations for students commuting long distance[s] to attend classes.”
In an email to The Varsity, Ayshane Aviles, a second-year studying criminology, sociology, and archaeology, wrote that she would like to see the TTC Youth Fare extended to 22- to 23-year olds. The current Youth Fare covers 13- to 19-year olds.
“[Students’] needs and their income is very unlikely to change between their first and third year of university, so why does the TTC punish students for turning 20? In an ideal world, [fares] for students would be completely voided, which would provide one less barrier for people pursuing education,” wrote Aviles.
In a statement to The Varsity, a TTC spokesperson wrote that its fares rates and fare policy are set by the TTC board of directors, and that “we can’t comment on the historical decisions that have been made regarding student fares.”
“The unfortunate reality is that since the late ‘90s, the TTC has been over-reliant on fare revenue to fund our operations,” wrote the spokesperson. “The good news is that the proposed 2025 budget includes a fare freeze and a significantly increased city subsidy.”
In an email to The Varsity, Sahana Gunaratnam, a first-year masters of public policy student, wrote that she believes “continuous advocacy from student unions is amazing.”
“It’s encouraging to see members of the UTSU advocating for better transit at City of Toronto deputations,” wrote Gunaratnam. “Even as a Scarborough resident, living within the City of Toronto[,] I have to also plan public transit routes religiously to ensure I get to campus and home on time which means leaving important events, panels and networking events early.”
“As for service issues, these are frustrating for us as well which is why we are encouraged that the proposed 2025 budget includes a significant investment in our capital funding which will allow us to proactively address some of the mechanical and infrastructure issues that can cause delays and reduced speed zones,” wrote the TTC spokesperson.
In an interview with The Varsity, Amer Shalaby, a professor in the Department of Civil & Mineral Engineering and director of the Transit Analytics Lab, spoke about the importance of student advocacy.
“A big proportion of transit users are students and youth in general, so listening to their voices and… [allowing] to advocate for their own concerns is essential.”
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