Business and Investment Ideas

A while back I had written about how much money it was plausible to save by taking public transportation. Since that time, I have discovered that there are a many different possibilities for student bus passes throughout the country. The example I used of the pass in Winnipeg turned out to be around average, so that’s fine as far as the comparison proceeded to go; however, shortly after checking out various options across Canada I thought it might be useful to make note of the differences.

Probably the most controversial part of student bus passes in Canada is the potential of a majority of students on some campuses to make the passes mandatory. Universities just like the University of Ottawa, the University of Victoria, Saint Mary’s University, and the University of Western Ontario have held student referendums where students elected to include bus passes as part of their all around tuition and student user fees. At Ottawa this led to a law suit by nine students against the University felt discriminated against.

Obviously this dilemma has some positives and disadvantages. The great low cost of public transportation for those that use it is an undeniable bonus. For those campuses the cost was decreased to approximately a 100 dollars flat for the year! This is likely because of the increased volume of sales. The fact that students are made to get passes would certainly also help out the overall usage rates. This has wonderful spin-off environmental effects, along with the mentioned financial ones.

Myself personally, the disadvantages are much more prevalent to me. During my time at the University of Manitoba there was a referendum on whether to come up with a compulsory bundle for public transportation to be supported by all students. I quite frankly can’t get past the fact that it shouldn’t be considered realistic for a slight majority of students to trample the legal rights of a large minority and take money out of their pockets to subsidize their preferred mode of transportation. If I remember correctly, there was presently a percentage of the money used from parking fees to help offset student bus pass costs. This is still a tough sell for me despite the environmental benefits. Obviously as a car owner I am definitely bias.

My distaste for certain aspects of public transportation is very likely a result of the Winnipeg pubic transit system. It doesn’t matter how much money I was saving I couldn’t rationalize the constant waste of time. The schedules were never ever correct, the constant rudeness of passengers, and the poor weather aspect of life in Winnipeg, was enough to motivate me to get my own car.

If perhaps I had went to school in British Columbia I may have a very different perspective of student bus passes. After a remark from a local about her public transportation experience, I researched the Vancouver area choices. I was amazed by the terrific deal they got and the fact it was not subsidized by other students (this means it doesn’t penalize the students that walk, bike, or drive to school). The U-Pass (universal pass) is available to post-secondary students for the low price of $30 monthly. The excellent part of the deal is that this doesn’t only just cover the bus, but the Seabus and SkyTrain services as well! With such a extensive variety of options I would presume there is quite a bit of success with the program there.

In contrast, Winnipeg charges over $70 a month for its substandard patchwork of buses. Other monthly public transportation rates for students include $89 for a metro pass in Toronto, $41 in Montreal for a combined metro and bus pass, $71 for a student bus pass in Saskatoon, and Calgary didn’t even have a student rate from the information I have been able to see on their web-site. The general adult rate there for a month-to-month bus pass is $90.

One other thing for people (not just students) who use bus passes should be informed of is the non-refundable tax credit available. For the majority of people you can get a pretty good idea of how much money you should receive on your taxes by multiplying the annual rate of your bus passes by .15 (15%). This is a good little reward incentive for those of you who are already financially and environmentally mindful enough to use public transportation.