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City looking at alternatives after university student bus pass program cancelled

The universal student bus pass traditionally brought in $3.5 million in revenue for each of the fall and winter semesters
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GuelphToday file photo

Guelph Transit looking at alternatives after losing millions of dollars in revenue after the University of Guelph’s student union voted to discontinue the practice of having each of its students purchase a bus pass as part of their student fees.

The move to eliminate the UPass contract with the city is estimated to be a $3.5 million hit to Guelph Transit’s revenues in the Fall semester alone. 

“A loss of transit revenue like that is significant for us and now necessitates us looking at how we respond ,” said Colleen Clack, deputy CAO for the City of Guelph.

The contract with U of G’s Central Student Association (CSA) wasn’t set to expire until April 2021, but it reached out to the city to be released from the contract due to COVID-19.

“We totally understand and respect why they made the request and city council agreed to not have the UPass in place,” said Clack. “Now we are looking at all of the alternatives about what we do, both from the revenue management side of things and hopeful for the other funding that may come through from the other levels of government.”

Clack believes that additional government transit funding in response to COVID-19 may be in the works, but for now it’s up in the air.

“We don’t yet know what our share of that is, so we are still working our way through that,” she said.

The discontinuing of the UPass removes predictable funding that Guelph Transit relies on. Clack said it’s just one of the many pitfalls that has come with COVID-19.

For the first time in many years, a student ID is no longer usable as a transit pass.

A new university bus pass has been created for post-secondary students in Guelph that will cost $272 a semester. The city says U of G estimates that 2,000 students will be on campus for the 2020/21 academic year.

“If half of those students purchase the new post-secondary bus pass, it will generate revenue of $272,000 per semester,” said Robin Gerus, Guelph Transit's GM.

The universal student bus pass traditionally brought in $3.5 million in revenue for each of the fall and winter semesters.

Clack said the city is hoping to make up some of the shortfall from the cancelling of the contract with CSA with the new passes.

“Obviously none of us expects to pick up the full amount because it’s a pretty sizeable chunk of revenue,” said Clack.

The CSA has said it will consider reinstating the UPass should circumstances on campus change in the winter semester.

Clack is hoping for the same outcome.

“We want to get back to UPass and that’s the intention,” said Clack. “We were aware this was coming, we had great conversations and our relationship with the university and the CSA. That is important and we want to have that relationship a year from now or four months from now.”


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Kenneth Armstrong

About the Author: Kenneth Armstrong

Kenneth Armstrong is a news reporter and photojournalist who regularly covers municipal government, business and politics and photographs events, sports and features.
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