UBC Reports | Vol. 49 | No. 2 | Feb. 6, 2003

AMS Wants to Know What Students Think of the U-Pass

Mid-February referendum will decide the issue

By Tara Learn, AMS VP External

What are your feelings on the U-Pass? This is what the AMS will be asking all UBC students Feb. 10-14 in the long awaited U-Pass referendum.

You’ve probably already heard the word “U-Pass” at some point or another, but many of you might still be wondering exactly what it is. The Universal Transit Pass (U-Pass) will give UBC students unlimited access to TransLink Bus, SeaBus and SkyTrain services (all zones), discounted West Coast Express fares, increased service and capacity on UBC routes, proposed discounts at participating merchants, and continued access to other UBC transportation programs. All this for a mere $20 per month for non-UBC housing students, and $15 per month for UBC-housing students -- making the U-Pass a cheap, not to mention sustainable, form of transportation to and from campus.

If the U-Pass is approved in the February 2003 referendum, UBC will join more than 60 other universities in North America offering transportation passes including UVic, SFU, Calgary, Western, and Guelph.

So what does this mean for UBC students? In order to make up the cost of the U-Pass, students need to make only five return bus trips per month (four if you’re in residence!). So if you and your friends want to go out to a bar downtown on Friday night, to Safeway during the week, or all the way to campus, all you have to do is hop on the bus.

The AMS has always been extremely vigilant around the bus service issue. What will happen when 38,000 students suddenly have a bus pass and decide to use it? Will it suddenly become more difficult to get on a bus because of overcrowding? TransLink has assured us that they will do everything that they possibly can to ensure that there are buses to accommodate all of these students. If this referendum passes, TransLink will add an additional 23,000 service hours to UBC. These new hours will be concentrated on the following lines: #99, #10, #480, #41, #43, #44, #25, #4, #49, and #258. There will also be a Service Review and Monitoring committee made up of representatives from the AMS, UBC and TransLink whose sole role is to ensure that the campus is adequately serviced.

If you would like to find out more information on the U-Pass you can check out the:

• U-Pass web site www.upass.ubc.ca
• U-Pass SUB booth (every day from 11am-2pm)
• U-Pass SUB forum (Feb. 10, 12-1pm SUB Conversation Pit)

There will be U-Pass forums and booths traveling around campus to ensure that every student knows everything they need to make an informed vote in the upcoming U-Pass referendum (check out www.upass.ubc.ca for times and locations).

If you still have questions send me an e-mail at vpexternal@ams.ubc.ca.

Make sure you come on out and VOTE in the U-Pass referendum Feb. 10-14, 2003. See you there!