A while back I had written about how much money it was possible to save by taking public transportation. Since that time, I have became aware that there are a quite a few different selections for student bus passes throughout the country. The example I used of the pass in Winnipeg ended up being roughly average, so that’s fine as far as the comparison went; however, shortly after considering the many options around Canada I thought it may be interesting to make note of the differences.

Perhaps the most controversial aspect of student bus passes in Canada is the power of a majority of university 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 decided to incorporate bus passes together with their over-all tuition and student user fees. At Ottawa this led to a law suit by 9 students against the University felt discriminated against.

Obviously this dilemma has some positives and drawbacks. The very low cost of public transportation for many who use it is an indisputable incentive. For those campuses the cost was lowered to about a 100 dollars flat for the year! This is likely because of the increased volume of sales. The fact that students are required to get passes would also help out the overall usage rates. This has great spin-off environmental effects, in addition to the aforementioned financial ones.

For me personally, the downsides are a lot more prevalent to me. During my time at the University of Manitoba there was a referendum on whether to come up with a obligatory bundle for public transportation to be supported by all students. I simply can not get past the fact that it should not be considered fair for a slight majority of students to trample the rights of a big minority and take money out of their pockets to subsidize their preferred mode of transportation. If I remember correctly, there was currently 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. Not surprisingly as a vehicle owner I am definitely bias.

My personal distaste for specific aspects of public transportation is most likely a result of the Winnipeg pubic transit system. Regardless of how much money I was saving I couldn’t justify the constant waste of time. The schedules were never correct, the constant disrespect of travellers, 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 view of student bus passes. After a comment from a local about her public transportation experience, I checked out the Vancouver area alternatives. I was impressed by the good deal they got and the fact it was not subsidized by other students (this means it doesn’t punish 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 a month. The really great part of the deal is that this doesn’t solely cover the bus, but the Seabus and SkyTrain services as well! With such a complete variety of options I would suppose there is a reasonable amount of success with the program presently there.

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

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

having a Student Bus Pass is a popular way to save money when going to school. cheap student transportation is highly important to any university aiming to make a subsidised program to their students.