The U Pass

Originally Posted by stringbeans

i mean i'd be pissed too if i had to pay that mandatory fee without having a use for the u-pass. but the way i see it, if you're a car owner with a u-pass, you'd be saving so much more money in the end by using the u-pass if you subtract all your gas/parking/maintenance costs for your car.

If I was going a longer distance away to school, took the highway/busy road/bridge, and had efficient bus routs I would probably sell my car and take full advantage of this.

HOWEVER

I live a 10 minute drive away, 20 min bike ride, or a 30-45 min bus ride away!

The bus comes every 30-60 min in my area, it wont stop at the bus stop by my school in the morning due to traffic, so im forced to take it to the exchange and back track my rout. At night, if my bus exchange doesn't match... it will take my an hour to get home in a 5-10 minute drive home.

Courtney doesnt believe how interested I am in getting a bike. The reason I turned it down was because I barley spend $40 on gas a month to get me from work to school. So why spend $200-$300+ for a bike and gear?

For many people this is a great deal, but for me... it doesn't make sense for me to take the bus.

[dabbler]

all you would need to do is take exactly what you said there, a receipt for the bike you just bought and they would excuse you from paying the price. srsly. do it for the next term

Originally Posted by ebbomega

Why pay for welfare? Why pay for social programs like inSite and medicare if you're not a drug addict or can afford health insurance?

Answer: to help those less fortunate, because when you better the quality of life of the lower classes then you better the quality of life for all.

I never said I was against subsidizing transit fares for students, in fact I think its great. I just dont like how the only people subsidizing this service are students them selfs, who dont even need it. I wouldn't be complaining at all if this was subsidized by the carbon tax wich is payed by all "evil" drivers, not just the students.

Originally Posted by ebbomega

Sell your car.

Or better idea: use transit to commute, save money on gas. It's a minor inconvenience but to be honest budgeting causes inconveniences for every student.

Some of you dont seem to understand that some of us NEED a car. I have 2 jobs that require one and I wouldnt have them if it wasnt for my car.

Not to mention that busing in the suburbs is A LOT less efficient than taking transit in the city. Like I said, the bus comes by every 30-60 minutes in my area as appose to 5-10-20 in Vancouver. Busing in my area IS an inconvenience.

Originally Posted by Courtney

QUESTION FOR STUDENTS WITH CARS :
DID YOUR PARENTS PAY FOR THE CAR/HELP PAY FOR THE CAR/HELP PAY INSURANCE

I bet you more than half of student will say YES and in that case...be lucky your a privileged mofo and get over it

Courtney, I took time off school to pay for my car all on my own. I pay for EVERYTHING and invested in it so I could have the jobs I have now. Now that its paid off, im back in school.

I hope you dont look at every student thinking their spoiled brat. In fact I bet the kids who do drive parent paid cars and have parent paid tuitions are not concerned at all about this fee.

[SEAN!]

Originally Posted by R Wellbelove

^Dude your totally missing my point. I never said it was a bad idea. If the goal was the environment, than shouldn't they be focusing on down town commuters?

its a question of limited resources and cost versus benefit, they dont have the resources to make an impact on DT commuters in the same way as they do students. its much easier to do it for students at a lower investment. Since there spending 2billion dollars on the RAV line, the needs of DT commuters have already been addressed.

quit complaining ubc students pay 180 a year

[SEAN!]

Originally Posted by Erin

Blah blah blah... I can afford a car, and own a car so I don't need to take the bus. It's irrelevant what it casts me a month to own it, and I'm still not interested in making sure your poor ass can get places. I'm all for the U pass, I think it's a great idea to give students a break! But why do people that don't have a use for it need to pay? Why am I paying for a service that I'm not using?

you pay taxes for school but you dont go to one, you pay taxes for healthcare but you dont have cancer, you pay taxes to upgrde bridge in the artic but youve never been there and probably never will be.

this is the saame shit different toilet, its justified for the common good.

[Erin]

Originally Posted by SEAN!

you pay taxes for school but you dont go to one, you pay taxes for healthcare but you dont have cancer, you pay taxes to upgrde bridge in the artic but youve never been there and probably never will be.

this is the saame shit different toilet, its justified for the common good.

I did go to a school, I do use my health care and how do you know I'll never go there? Never say never. All I'm saying that if students are so poor that they need a discounted bus pass - who the hell are you to tell someone that drives a car that they can afford to pay for them to get that bus pass? A student is a student - car or no car - why should a student pay for a kind of transportation that they will never use?

[SEAN!]

Originally Posted by Erin

I did go to a school, I do use my health care and how do you know I'll never go there? Never say never. All I'm saying that if students are so poor that they need a discounted bus pass - who the hell are you to tell someone that drives a car that they can afford to pay for them to get that bus pass? A student is a student - car or no car - why should a student pay for a kind of transportation that they will never use?

i had car and still used my u pss even tho i hte trnsit. so neener neener neener.

[Erin]

Originally Posted by SEAN!

i had car and still used my u pss even tho i hte trnsit. so neener neener neener.

You maybe should have tried walking...

Originally Posted by SEAN!

its a question of limited resources and cost versus benefit, they dont have the resources to make an impact on DT commuters in the same way as they do students. its much easier to do it for students at a lower investment. Since there spending 2billion dollars on the RAV line, the needs of DT commuters have already been addressed.

quit complaining ubc students pay 180 a year

If they came up with some kind of "traffic reduce fee" of $10-$20 I wouldn't argue, but $125 is too much per term for someone who doesnt have much use for it.

It doesn't make sense that they're are trying to help other students out financially by making it financially harder on others. If there is such a low percent of students who dont support or use the U-Pass, then how does it hurt to omit them from the fee?

Like I stated before, I dont benefit in any ways from this fee. The most ill use it is twice a week. That alone might save me $3 in gas.

If im going to complain about anything, its the very un-efficient transit system in my area.

[Veni*C]

how about someone just gives me thier Upass so i dont have to pay for a bus pass every month... :D

[SEAN!]

Originally Posted by Erin

You maybe should have tried walking...

what the fuck are you talking about?

it was 28km to my work from home another 18km to ubc from work and 37km back to home

[diva]

It's not that hard to sell a Upass...

[diva]

classifieds - craigslist

classifieds - craigslist

[Courtney]

good point rhia their parents will probably pay the fee anyways eh!

[Courtney]

Originally Posted by SEAN!

what the fuck are you talking about?

it was 28km to my work from home another 18km to ubc from work and 37km back to home

I would walk 500 miles and I would walk 500 more

[cubed]

Courtney was actually the third Proclaimer, sadly they kicked her out for being a hippie.

True story!

[Courtney]

shut your dirt mouth!

[cubed]

Come on Courts lets be honest, you just didn't jive with these two wild guys.

[Erin]

Originally Posted by SEAN!

what the fuck are you talking about?

it was 28km to my work from home another 18km to ubc from work and 37km back to home

Nevermind...

[rawb]

Originally Posted by Erin

who the hell are you to tell someone that drives a car that they can afford to pay for them to get that bus pass?

I believe you're referring to the large majority of students who go to the school that voted it was for the greater good.

[Veni*C]

Originally Posted by diva

classifieds - craigslist

classifieds - craigslist

ya.. now i just need to find one that looks like me......
there are lots of "asian boy" and "asian girl" ones.......

[Erin]

Originally Posted by rawb

I believe you're referring to the large majority of students who go to the school that voted it was for the greater good.

And what gives that large majority of students the right to tell me that my money is less important then theirs? Why do I have to pay for thier transportation? I'm also a poor student? Why do they get a break and I have to pay for their break?

[NinjaBoy]

Originally Posted by Erin

And what gives that large majority of students the right to tell me that my money is less important then theirs? Why do I have to pay for thier transportation? I'm also a poor student? Why do they get a break and I have to pay for their break?

For the same reason you pay taxes, but don't collect welfare.

[rawb]

Originally Posted by Erin

And what gives that large majority of students the right to tell me that my money is less important then theirs? Why do I have to pay for thier transportation? I'm also a poor student? Why do they get a break and I have to pay for their break?

1) you aren't a student so your outrage is silly
2) occasionally people realize the world doesn't revolve around them and even though they are in the minority they contribute for the greater good (i pay into EI i will probably never use, my taxes bail out provinces i will never visit and lease safe injection sites i will never shoot drugs in, i pay strata fees so they can fix the greenspace my apt doesn't overlook and pay the concierge i rarely use a salary, etc etc etc)
3) if you were a poor student and concerned about money by far the most economical way for you to get to campus would be by the U-Pass, unless you lived close enough to bike or walk or had some other circumstance that would allow you to apply for a credit that would negate the cost of the U-Pass