Here are my pre-campaign thoughts.
The Good:
- The whole city becomes much more accessible to all students
- Students who live farther from campus save money
- It discourages driving from a cost point of view (but NOT from a time one), which could reduce congestion in parking lots, and you know, environmental such
The Potential Bad:
- If there is no "uPass upgrade" option, students who need an express or rural X pass, those who need the bus the most, are in the worst situation
- It remains to be seen, but buses in the Laurier-Lees corridor might get awful congested
The Confirmed Bad:
- There's no opt-out, which screws students who are not in bussable Ottawa (Gatineau in the morning, extremely rural, student exchange, etc)
- The summer semester pass is not included (though this is good for those that don't want ANY bus pass)
- It discourages bicycling as a primary means of transportation
- It will heavily reduce ridership on the shuttle bus
The Translated:
- $290 is equivalent to:
- 252 bus tickets (126 regular rides, 84 express rides)
- 41 cab rides from the market to residence
- 10 cab rides from uOttawa to Algonquin College
- 316L or 2000-3000km of gas
- ~800km of driving, or 16 trips across the city using AAA estimates that include averages for gas, insurance, maintenance, purchase price, and depreciation
- A new on sale Norco Rio Vista
- 2-3 pairs of running shoes
- 3-6 textbooks
- 6 regular lectures
- 25 pitchers of beer at La Maison
That looks good when compared to other transport options. Not so much against the beer and books. I'm probably voting in favour, but am still unsure. Thoughts? Comments?
Even as someone who depends on the bus to get to school, I don't believe it is fair to force individuals to subsidize my trip. I chose to live farther away from campus and thus pay less rent than someone who lives in Sandy Hill but I take the bus to school. For someone in Sandy Hill who will never take the bus, I don't believe it is fair that they subsidize my bus ride...
ReplyDeleteI hear there's no upgrade necessary - the uPass counts as a rural express pass, which is FANTASTIC news for those of us that live in Bells Corners :)
ReplyDeleteIt's only a rumour, but a rumour I wanted to share.
@ Brandon: I've posed the question last year to Julie Séguin at my CRT (oh the days where I actually had round-tables!) and she did confirm this as well: it's like an all access pass, which for the price, is kinda worth it!
ReplyDeleteI'm still undecided on this front too. I live close to campus even though it's more expensive because I want to be nearby. People who live farther away I'm assuming do so because it's less expensive. Is it necessarily fair for everyone to subsidize their bus fair since they're in a sense already saving money? Whereas many of us made the decision to spend more money to be nearby campus are forced to pay for a bus pass that we wouldn't need...
ReplyDeleteFinancially, it seems like the people who are already saving money are benefited, while those who aren't get screwed over.
-Tamar
Without an opt-out there will be no way that I can support this. It has been said that this is only a Pilot Project for the year if we approve and then we will have annother ref to decide for longer contract. This of course will lead to the opportunity to negotiate for an opt out as well as express/rural but is anyone prepared to believe that the SFUO has the political muscle to make that happen against the city?
ReplyDeleteNo, and thats exactly how I will be voting. The last thing we need is to be putting more mandatory costs on students while campaigning for lower tuition fees. I can hear the gov now "...but you all decided you had an extra $290 for the bus. You must not be that poor."