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Voici pourquoi, si le laissez-passer devient un programme permanent, je supporterais de mettre en place un système « d'opt out » qui donnerait aux étudiantes et aux étudiants le choix de ne pas payer le 290 $ s'ils n'utilisent guère ce laissez-passer qui est, présentement, obligatoire et fait partie des frais de scolarité. Croyez-vous que c'est une bonne idée?
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Personally, I do not use my U-Pass very often. At least not enough to justify an extra $290 added to my tuition bill. With that said, I do think that students should have access to affordable transportation and that many students have greatly benefited from their U-Pass. It should also be noted, however, that there does exist, among the student population, a feeling of discontent towards the U-Pass. At the beginning of December 2010, students took their frustration to next level by filing a legal challenge aganst the SFUO.
Therefore, if the U-Pass becomes a permanent program, I would support an initiative that would allow students who do not want/need a bus pass the option to opt out. Under the current pilot project, students were not given this option and thus had an extra $290 added onto their tuition bills. What are your thoughts?
Imma vote for you just because of this!
ReplyDeleteOpt-out would be amazing, but it will never happen. The city wouldn't commit to a program that allowed opt-outs..
ReplyDeleteJe crois que l'option "opt-out" serait une bonne idée pour ceux qui vivent trop loin ou, au contraire, trop près pour que le laissez-passer soit efficace mais, comme Peter Flynn a dit, je ne croit pas que la ville et oc transpo accepterai cette option vu l'argent impliqué
ReplyDeleteEveryone recognises that a U-Pass with an opt-out or opt-in system would be ideal. The problem is that when negociating deals, one must stay within the realm of the possible. The city and OC Transpo are not going to give students a discount out of the kindness of their hearts. They will only allow a discount if they can make up the lost revenue by having more people buy passes.
ReplyDeleteThat is the nature of such deals, you buy in bulk to save on the individual transactions. If OC Transpo cannot be assured that this deal will not lose them money then they won't sign it. The choice is between a U-Pass everyone pays into or none at all. There are arguments to be made for either side but this third option is just not a realistic possibility
Où est passé la solidarité entre étudiant? Est-ce qu'on est devenu qu'une simple agrégation d'individus égoïstes?
ReplyDeleteJe comprend que certaines personnes n'utilisent pas leur laissez-passé régulièrement (d'ailleurs, j'en suis un parmi eux), mais je suis également persuadé que la vaste majorité des étudiants n'habitent pas assez près du campus pour se rendre à pied ou par tout moyen autre qu'en voiture/autobus.
C'est pourquoi, si la seule façon que le conseil de ville permet cette aubaine extraordinaire, je souhaite qu'on la maintienne en vigueur. Énormément d'étudiant, qui généralement pour des raisons financière, doivent recourir à ce moyen de transport. Pour ceux qui ont l'avantage de ne pas avoir à l'emprunter, ils devraient considérer cette initiative une généreuse contribution envers l'ensemble de la communauté étudiante d'Ottawa. De plus, c'est un incitatif pour les étudiants qui viennent de l'extérieur d'emprunter l'autobus et découvrir la Ville.
Il s'ensuit que je dis non aux exceptions!
If they offered the possibility to opt-out, then what would the difference be with OC Transpo's former discounted passes for students who choose to buy them? The whole point of the u-pass is that, because everyone is paying into it, they can offer the passes at a discounted rate for those who do need it.
ReplyDeleteEven though I don't use mine that often, I'd say it's one of the more reasonable things we pay for in our tuition.
Our energy could be better spent looking into and acting on other things we've been paying into, that are a lot less useful and accessible to the average student.
Like Lynne said, the UPASS is definitely one of the more reasonable initiatives of the SFUO.
ReplyDeleteI live pretty close to campus so I don't need to use public transit to get to and from class, but I work downtown and so this will have saved me $200 by the end of the semester. I feel that those fighting the UPASS are simply a very vocal minority. Everyone has to participate for this program to succeed.
Universal transit is something that this university should have fought for a long time ago. The majority of students benefit from the program, and if we are able to keep it (with the modest cost increases), then future students who were not around for this debate will appreciate the mobility options afforded to them. If we tell incoming students that they WILL have a UPASS, then they'll be able to make better off-campus housing decisions in their later years.
Should we stop funding the other SFUO services and initiatives because some people don't use them? To say that "Not all students use or support the Foodbank, so we should stop funding it" is both incredibly selfish and short-sighted. The same goes for the UPASS.