$20 a Month For Unlimmited Transit Use?

[Senior]

For those of you who are UBC or SFU students you might have heard of the new U Pass program that is being offered or already be taking advantage of it. In short the deal is you get a 3 zone pass for $20 a month which ends up saving people a lot of money.

This program has increased rider ship by 50% on routes going to UBC and SFU resulting in many added benefits for those areas; less traffic congestion, less air pollution and less land needed for parking spaces. Single occupancy vehicle usage has dropped more than 20%.

So with traffic, air pollution and urban sprawl all being such big problems why the hell isn't this program being offered to more groups? Large corporations and other post secondary institutions would be obvious candidates.

[AGROculture]

I think it's great!

Some people who have cars complain that they have to pay, but they don't realise that they're paying more over time indirectly if this program wasn't in effect

[g l o w]

sounds like a great idea..
but do these deals ONLY work for the buses that r going to UBC/SFU?

[Senior]

Originally posted by g l o w:
sounds like a great idea..
but do these deals ONLY work for the buses that r going to UBC/SFU?

No, it's a 3 zone pass. You can go anywhere within translink's service area.

[miss.myra]

Corporations have the option to get a company translink pass program, they tried to offer it at IBM, but it only worked out to being like a 30% discount on buspasses annually- they do have it offered, I think you need at least 30 people, but the discount doesn't seem worth it.

[Senior]

Originally posted by miss.myra:
Corporations have the option to get a company translink pass program, they tried to offer it at IBM, but it only worked out to being like a 30% discount on buspasses annually- they do have it offered, I think you need at least 30 people, but the discount doesn't seem worth it.

I might be wrong but I think it's much less than a 30% discount. I had it offered at my company and I would have gotten my 2 zone pass for $82 instead of $87. That of course is just not the kind of thing that will convince someone to sell their car and start taking transit.

[Mc*Phee]

They SHOULD realy think about expanding the U-pass for other post secondary institutions. I would love to have one! (douglas student) I usualy drive to school, but i could get a pass for that cheep I would take transit more, and go more places as well.

[shorerider]

Originally posted by miss.myra
Corporations have the option to get a company translink pass program, they tried to offer it at IBM, but it only worked out to being like a 30% discount on buspasses annually- they do have it offered, I think you need at least 30 people, but the discount doesn't seem worth it.

Yeah, my old work had that, came right offa your paycheque. But you had to commit for a year...

I do think that if Translink were to drop it's prices than they would prolly see higher ridership. Oh, and they really fucked over old people, people who work late nights and drunks, IMO.

Personally I almost never drive to work, maybe once a month, I would rather ride my bike or take the seabus. Both of those are so painless and easy.

[Veni*C]

ya we have Upasses in vic @ my college.... they have them at uvic too.... we get 4 months for 50 bones.... now thats a sweet deal! :c-tard:

[puffpuffpass]

isnt it true that every1 that goes to sfu ubc etc., has to pay for the U-pass....even if u have ur own car n drive 2 skool...i went 2 bcit n they dont have no u-pass....i only took the bus 3 times all semester n i think if i had 2 pay 20bux for that damn pass its jus a rip-off on top of daily parking fees..i guess its jus a way 2 help the lil guy...

[Hot Karl]

hmm, i wonder if i can get my sis to buy one, and me to use it...:P

[puffpuffpass]

the card has ur pic on it......could work if u look like ur sis though...

[Senior]

Originally posted by puffpuffpass:
isnt it true that every1 that goes to sfu ubc etc., has to pay for the U-pass....even if u have ur own car n drive 2 skool...i went 2 bcit n they dont have no u-pass....i only took the bus 3 times all semester n i think if i had 2 pay 20bux for that damn pass its jus a rip-off on top of daily parking fees..i guess its jus a way 2 help the lil guy...

As far as I know that's not the case. You'd only pay for it if you used it. As far as helping the little guy goes I think you're missing the point. The idea here is to get the masses using transit as it's a much more effective means of transportation.

Of the many challenges that Vancouver faces a big one is our growing population that is expected to nearly double over the next 30 years. Because of this we will face increasingly bad traffic leading to poor air quality among other things. Also having a poor transportation infrastructure is a huge drain on the economy. Add into all of this rising oil prices and we're heading towards some big problems.

Mass transit offers the many opportunities to address these concerns but to make that happen we need to get a lot more people using it.

[bebu*funfun]

there have been u pass petition going around at colleges/institutes in vancouver. i know at my school we filled up the petition, but it did take a while to get enough signitures. one controversial thing was that the ppl that drove didn't want to sign it because they would be paying for the upass as well.. if they pay to make my bus trip cheaper...why am i not contributing to their pricey parking spot. it does make sense.

i can see more schools being allowed u'passes next year (september) it only makes sense. on a side note, ive been using my sister's u pass for months on end now, and the bus drivers really dont care... dont bust me now.

[SEAN!]

u passes are not simply offered to ubc or sfu students they are a mandatory fee. which amounts to 180 bucks a year, i pay 650 for parking.

i pay for it but i dont even have a u -pass..i use transit like twice a year.

the reason its not offered is because of simple economics, translink knows that ubc and sfu is full or rich bastards like myself who either dispise transit or have schedules and live in locations where transit isnt a viable option(like on campus, even ubc residents have to pay for the u-pass)..if they were to offer it on a community basis the mere success of the program would make it unfeasible(it is unliekly that it would be a success) as you wouldnt have a large percentage of people subsidizing the scant number of transit riders. the trransit authority needs the subsidization from non transit users to run, because our city isn't densely populated the transit systems are incredibly inefficient in both economic and operational terms.


i go to ubc and from the students i speak to i havent noticed any change in their driving habits whats so ever, so really the effect is marginal. Parking at UBC and owning a car is so expensive that if students or their parents are capable and willing to pay for them when there is no u-pass the existense of a universal transit pass is only going to get the attention of the poorest students becuase honestly the transit system is shit, and even if it was amazing alot of people wouldnt think twice about giving up their freedom of mobility to grab a ride on the "loser cruiser" What kid would give up his 40k dollar car to ride a bus?

Personally i fuckin hate public transit, there is absolutely nothing you could do to get me to ride it, even if you made insurence twice an much and gas 4 times as much id still drive, and theres alot of people who feel the smae way.


the only way to get people to give up their cars is to build denser cities, like manhatten/hong kong density levels, so that traffic and parking are so inconvenaint and expensive that it forces people to use transit. also in these situations the transit system is more efficient so it is self supporting and dosnt require massive subsidization. A second course of action would be to raise gast taxes so gasoline was 3.50 a litre. Either one of these options would be political suicide for any politician

[-ff-]

Originally posted by SEAN!

Personally i fuckin hate public transit, there is absolutely nothing you could do to get me to ride it, even if you made insurence twice an much and gas 4 times as much id still drive, and theres alot of people who feel the smae way.

Too bad you're in the minority.

So you have to pay a bit more for the privilege of driving your car to school (and it is a privilege). Boo hoo hoo. You're going to have a hard time making people feel sorry for your rich ass. This city is already over-infested with the dammned things as it is.

As for your "I dont use it so why should I pay for it" argument, it doesn't hold much water while you're happily taking advantage of heavily subsidized post-secondary education. Bob Smith in Aldergrove who owns an auto shop probably doesn't enjoy paying for your education, but the fact is that our society is founded on the twin principles of equality AND liberty of individuals. That means for your individual rights, you're going to have to make a few sacrifices towards the broader equality of the whole society. Don't like it? Move to Texas.

[miss.myra]

The problem with the mandatory UPASS programs is that you get all these people who are able to take transit and are encouraged to..


but they don't have the busses to accomodate all these people


woops!

[SEAN!]

Originally posted by -ff-



Too bad you're in the minority.

So you have to pay a bit more for the privilege of driving your car to school (and it is a privilege). Boo hoo hoo. You're going to have a hard time making people feel sorry for your rich ass. This city is already over-infested with the dammned things as it is.

As for your "I dont use it so why should I pay for it" argument, it doesn't hold much water while you're happily taking advantage of heavily subsidized post-secondary education. Bob Smith in Aldergrove who owns an auto shop probably doesn't enjoy paying for your education, but the fact is that our society is founded on the twin principles of equality AND liberty of individuals. That means for your individual rights, you're going to have to make a few sacrifices towards the broader equality of the whole society. Don't like it? Move to Texas.

hey chump did i ever complain abouty paying for it in that post? maybe you confused complain with explained simple economic theory. As for bob smith? You mean the same bob smith that subsidizes your education. Hell i susidize my education too, the governemnt took more then 25% of my income last year on top of all the consumption taxes i pay(and i consume alot, since ima greedy, selfish consumer asshole) Secondly, im not going to be complaining after i graduate and 52% of my income goes to subsidizes people like me after i graduate and make even more money.

am in the minority? yeah right, maybe in the narrow segment of the population that is enroled in post secondary instuitions. i dont see much of the general public making a mad dash to transit even if the user costs were free.

i neevr once compalined about equality, i dont to mean its a fine idea but im a relaistic person and there is absolutely no way there could ever be a truley equalitarian state. or even a state that resembles equalitarian society.

[-ff-]

Originally posted by SEAN!


hey chump did i ever complain abouty paying for it in that post? maybe you confused complain with explained simple economic theory.

Originally posted by SEAN!

u passes are not simply offered to ubc or sfu students they are a mandatory fee. which amounts to 180 bucks a year, i pay 650 for parking.

i pay for it but i dont even have a u -pass..i use transit like twice a year.

Maybe I misenterpreted. That sounded a lot like a complaint to me.

Yes, I'm aware that my education is subsidized. I think its great that it is. I think that we should increase government funding to universities so that they are more accessible to everyone. You totally misenterpreted my argument, which was that you can't bitch about it being unfair that you have to subsidize someone else when you yourself are being subsidzied.

As for the 'simple economic theory' you were giving us, you're dead wrong. For every extra twenty dollars they now get from a driver per month, they're losing 40 from a regular bus rider. And, while I don't have the figures on me, I'm pretty sure there are not twice as many drivers as bus riders at ubc, so in the end, the U-Pass would actually end up decreasing Translink revenues instead of increasing them. The point of this program is not to be a cash cow for translink, its to make transit affordable to already cash-strapped students. This is something you clearly don't understand, maybe because you get handouts from daddy, or maybe because you just live in your own little privileged bubble world:

Originally posted by SEAN!
i go to ubc and from the students i speak to i havent noticed any change in their driving habits whats so ever, so really the effect is marginal.

Originally posted by SEAN!

i neevr once compalined about equality, i dont to mean its a fine idea but im a relaistic person and there is absolutely no way there could ever be a truley equalitarian state. or even a state that resembles equalitarian society.

As for this, I never claimed to be arguing for some kind of communist utopia in which we all share everything equally. My point was that we do live in a society that redistributes (a relatively small amount, actually) from the fortunate to the unfortunate. Really, if you're blowing so much on gas, parking, and auto insurance, 200 bucks is going to be a small drop in the bucket.

[Crazy Dave]

Heck the bus should be free,,, then it would give more room for drivers like Sean! to park and move about the city... every one wins. Just thing of the time you'd save if 1/4 of the cars where out there.

:kam:

[Aki]

i think it should be offered to all students not just UBC and SFU
i go to cap and would greatly benefit if i had one

[-DLO_604-]

this sucks because i'm not in university damn you translink!

[mapleleaf4ever]

If Transit didn't suck ass for getting to my work I'd use it more. :finger:

[Mo...]

thats an awsome deal! wish i went to UBC or SFU

[mugsy]

yah id love the u-pass at cap, granted i have the transit sticker where i buy a one zone and it allows me to go three zones, but it sucks forkin out $60 a month plus my monthly fees...
however no matter, its still cheaper then a car for me, and fro that im greatful.