So let me ask a question. Whats the deal with the U-Pass? Why should I be forced to pay for one? I don’t use public transit. Every full-time student is now required to pay $160 for a damn buss pass. It’s a great deal, and I did some research and it is apparently something the student unions were overwhelmingly in favour of. The transit union wouldn’t make the deal unless they made it mandatory for all students. What the fuck.
I just think to make anyone pay for something they don’t want or need is some left wing commie bullshit! To force me to give a company money just because I’m a student is just ass backwards. Here’s an idea. This might blow your mind. How about putting a little more effort into making the bus a less altogether shitty experience.
I am a full-time student at a community college, I have classes in the morning and then a long break in the middle of the day then back to evening classes. I don’t even live all that far away but if I relied on the bus I would have no time to do anything but study and commute. I don’t wat to rely on shitty ass Metro Transit. That’s why I have a fucking car.
Fuck off transit union, if the huge majority of students want this so bad there’s no reason the few who don’t should have to pay.
I couldn’t even log into my student email because I hadn’t gone and paid for this yet, even though I paid all my other student fees. —This is Some Bullshit
This article appears in Nov 1-7, 2012.
this is the first time i heard of this. why would you have to buy something, if you weren’t going to use it. stupid shit.
Oh OB. Just wait until you finish school, get a job, buy your first piece of property and start paying property taxes. Guess what part of your property tax goes towards, in HRM? Metro Transit! Yay! Even if there is no bus service in your neighborhood. So long as that neighborhood is deemed to be within HRM, you’re paying for it. This works with other services that you may not use as well.
Welcome to life, OB, where only 2 things are certain…death and taxes.
That is fucked up. Ma fuckas shouldn’t have to pay for services they don’t use.
Get your facts straight…the union had nothing to do with introducing the U Pass…that was a management decision. F*%k off with your anti union BS.
welcome to life. Its a pretty simple concept you pay for the option to be there. You pay mandatory health benefits even if you never use them you pay so everyone can have them. Same with taxes. The reason its good deal is because they sell em in bulk. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.
i’m paying into transit with my property taxes, and i don’t have bus service out here. no option to take it or not, just ‘no bus at all’.
funny how people can swing from ayn rand laissez faire to marxism depending on which service they want or need. funny that.
zigackly right good dog
how you doing in the wee storm? when diane got home from burnside, she said it was a lot blowier out here than there.
the pass should at least be transferable to a charity that can distribute it to the poor.
i’ve weathered many storms on land and at sea, but sandy is a doozer, some of the photos are scary/incredible. we will get a bit of a breeze
They should let you choose between getting a U-Pass or a parking pass. Seems a bit silly that you are forced to pay $160 for a non-refundable bus pass, and then on top of that must shell out about $250 for a parking pass (at least at SMU anyway)….
There’s a difference between high taxes and forcing someone to buy something, not to mention that money goes in MT’s pockets. Lots of students already pay property taxes. You think landlords come out of pocket for that? Fuck no, that’s included in your rent. Not only are they paying property taxes, they are paying taxes on someone ELSE’S asset.
“Get your facts straight…the union had nothing to do with introducing the U Pass…that was a management decision. F*%k off with your anti union BS.”
Like I tell every unionized person who tries to pass the buck to management: I don’t care if you agree with it, it contributes to your income, so you can take the criticism that also comes with it. If you disagree with a company’s practices so strongly, you can quit. We all take shit about our company’s decisions, so should you.
And it sure as hell wasn’t a student idea to make it mandatory for every student, that was the only way to make it “feasible” It’s greedy bullshit.
When I went to Dal, I voted against the UPass because I lived in the sticks at the time where there was no bus service. The majority wanted it so it stuck.
If you want an opt-out clause in the UPass contract, get on your student union to put it to a vote. But, I will say this. The reason the rate is so discounted is because of the bulk purchasing power, and all that money NSCC provided through the UPass did get 60s and 63s to run more frequently. Plus, because more students take the bus due to this rate, you get more parking options and less traffic hassle for your car ride. You benefit from your $160 that way but if you still don’t like it, reread the first sentence in this paragraph.
BTW, the union didn’t have a say in this policy (though they do benefit from it), so please leave them out of it. It was negotiated between MT and the Student Unions
“because more students take the bus due to this rate, you get more parking options and less traffic hassle for your car ride.”
No because the same amount of people still take the bus, I’d wager, roughly. I would agree with it if it was mandatory for every student who wants to get a monthly bus pass, they should be forced to pay for the u pass and at that rate who would mind? It should be optional when you pay your tuition. Those people save money, but to make drivers pay for it, adding to the overwhelmingly high cost that students pay in this part of the country.
“But, I will say this. The reason the rate is so discounted is because of the bulk purchasing power, and all that money NSCC provided through the UPass did get 60s and 63s to run more frequently.”
I still think 160 bucks times every student in HRM is ridiculous. Again, if it’s so popular:
a) people who want it wouldn’t mind paying a few more bucks for it
b) the slight minority of those who aren’t in favor of being forced to pay for it shouldn’t be a deal breaker.
And I’m not trying to shit on the union, so forgive me, but I will say management must have taken the unions interests into consideration when making their proposal.
MT forcing students to pay for something is shady business as far as I’m concerned and their reasoning behind it sounds like some bullshit.
And talk about tax all you want, there shouldn’t be something that singles out students, or any other one group of people for that matter.
And I will say this again TJ because I once was a part of that minority, get on your student union to put it to a vote. Yeah, it stinks, but I can tell you from my time driving buses that the amount of NSCC students who take the bus post-UPass is quite a bit more than when it wasn’t there. I don’t have official numbers, but trust me, it had an effect.
I’ll be honest, even if it costs remaining students a bit more, an opt-out clause like they have for the health plan would be awesome for those students living where the bus was not an option, but the trickle-down benefit still remains.
I don’t like the idea of an opt out clause, and I don’t like the idea of u-passes going unused. Make it possible to give to charity, but may it impossible to sell the pass.
lol metro transit favors trickle down economics!
😛
Yeah it works out for most people involved but it just screws a few people out of 160 bucks. Also the Woodside Ferry being cut sucks for a lot of NSCC students!
Cutting any ferry service IMO is a bad idea. There’s being financially viable, and then there’s stupid.
did someone hear the word ‘union’ and miss the ‘student’ attached to it and think that the transit union had something to do with the deal? this is not ‘union’ generated, think more along the lines of those private health companies..they give you a good rate ONLY if the plan is universal, no opt out. this is not ‘union’ economics, this is corporate. and the student union negotiated the deal, they are the customers, the consumers. regarding parking passes instead, i can’t see anyone, except the student lucky enough to have a car, agreeing that the university should encourage car use. what you could try to negotiate is a parking pass option for students living outside bus coverage areas, with the argument that it would be a slight encouragement to move students out of the congested./high rent areas, which could in turn encourage transit to establish routes in those areas (if masses of potential bus taking students have moved into said areas) you’d prob have to make a dozen flow charts. but i still think they wouldn’t bite at encouraging car use. and shouldn’t.
i don’t think you’d have a snowball’s chance. if majority of students take the bus, and it became optional, the price per would have to go up. so they wouldn’t vote for it, unless you think you could convince them to take the hit for your sake. really, that’s what it would be. and yes, you are ‘taking the hit’ but that’s the price you are going to continue to pay for having the convenience and luxury of your own vehicle.
If their decisions suck so bad, why would you even want to be a part of their institution?
It’s part and parcel of the experience… and it’s not like they hide it:
http://www.dal.ca/admissions/money_matters…
http://www.smu.ca/servicecentre/ttn_underg…
Switch Universities if it pisses you of so much.
People already pay out the ass to have the privilege and luxury of their own car, Molly. They pay the province for this privilege via licensing and registration fees, which ain’t cheap.
Also, healthcare is a necessity that everyone sooner or later will need in some capacity. It makes sense to make everyone pay for it. It doesn’t make sense to force someone to pay for a product they never asked for or have any use for.
“if majority of students take the bus, and it became optional, the price per would have to go up. so they wouldn’t vote for it, unless you think you could convince them to take the hit for your sake. “
My point exactly. MT knew this and decided to cash in.
Zed, it’s not just one university, this is for every full time student in HRM. Someone is profiting from this big time, and I think to insist that students be forced to buy a pass as a condition for cheaper bus service is just crazy. What about those who walk? Or who don’t have bus service in their area? It’s greedy, and they clearly suck as a business if they have to force even ONE person to buy something from them.
the healthcare plan you are part of as a student is not the basic govt service (which is no cost to user in Nova Scotia, unlike other provinces, where you pay $50 a month for govt medicare) the U plan is additional stuff, like the plans you get from employers, or have to get yourself thru a private HMO like Blu X, etc. dental, prescriptions. LTD.
cars are expensive. just one of those things.
re the bus pass, i doubt that mt approached the student union. probably the other way around, trying to get a better deal for the students. bulk buy.
Welcome to the real world…. Years of bitching ahead of you!
“If you want an opt-out clause in the UPass contract, get on your student union to put it to a vote.”
I’m pretty sure only SMUSA deals with the u-pass. DSU/MSVUSA doesn’t do the u-pass — it’s Dal and MSVU that administers that shizzit.
I know it would be super awesome if Dal staff was offered a u-pass option. Parking up in there is a nightmare.
now you know how taxpayers feel.
Seriously op, you’re right. That is some bullshit. I own my own car and am considering returning to school. That’s going to piss me off.
160$ for a years worth of travelling. i wish we the transit users could get that deal. 160$ for me is 8 weeks worth of tickets, or 2 months on the metro pass. Suck it up buttercup, and be thankful MT stopped you from buy 160$ worth of booze or smokes.
I go to the college as well. I know of some people who actually decided to try out MT to get around instead of using their car, because of the U-Pass. It comes in handy when you’re drunk! I live in Halifax and make the commute over to Woodside each day, and it’s usually quicker (if the Woodside ferry is running), or pretty much the same if I were to use a car, which I do have access to a few days a week. There is no on-site parking at the Waterfront Campus, if yallz can believe that. You need to purchase a $20 parking pass for the privilege of parking in the Woodside industrial park somewhere, and getting a shuttle back to the college. Most times, the shuttle is too full and you have to walk anyway. It’s not worth the headache to me. Da ferry rules!
BTW, who’s brilliant idea was it to cut the Woodside ferry from 9:30am-3pm, right before school starts??? During that hiatus, all us students pretty much pack the 60 and 63, to the point that they sometimes can’t pick up any new fares until it gets to the bridge/school.