By Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen, January 18, 2019
OC Transpo’s u-pass program, which provides more than $30 million in revenue for the transit service and deep discounts for passengers each year, could be doomed if the provincial government’s new “opt out” rules for non-tuition fees apply to public transit agreements with student associations.
It couldn’t come at a worse time as the city prepares to launch an LRT system that would deliver municipal rail service to two campuses starting this spring and a third campus in four years.
The Ontario Progressive Conservative government announced this week it would give post-secondary students choices when it comes to the compulsory fees that are in addition to tuition. The u-pass could be one of those fees if the government or schools don’t consider public transit an essential fee.
https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/letting-students-opt-out-of-transit-fee-could-jeopardize-u-pass-program