Analysis: Looking at the MultiPass

Voting in the MultiPass referendum ends Sunday, Feb. 6, with students taking a long-awaited vote on cheaper transit.

Essentially, the Multipass combines the U-Pass, which provides unlimited access to public transit, with a few extra selling points. The U-Pass costs $30 per month, whereas the MultiPass costs $40 per month. The kicker: if the referendum passes, it will be mandatory for all students.

The break-down

With the MultiPass, students will be eligible to receive a membership to Gold’s Gym for $5 per month.

According the KUSA website, “The KSA is working to set up an exclusive express coach service that will rush you between Kwantlen campuses.” It says that this will be free for use with a MultiPass.

The KUSA website says, “Cars will be available on each Kwantlen campus for students to borrow…Your MultiPass gets you a more affordable membership into a car share program.”

Q & A with Matt Todd, KSA Director of External Affairs

Q: When can students expect to have a fully operational express coach service between Kwantlen campuses?

M.T: “The intention is to have it operating for May. The idea is that we want to have it started in the summer time so that we can test the service, try it out, and see how it goes.”

Q: When can students expect to have access to a car share service?

M.T: “We’re trying to put everything in place for May, but September for sure…the reality is that all of these services require really complicated contracts that require complicated negotiations.”

Q: Why Gold’s Gym?

M.T: “We tried three different groups for the gym pass, [but] in the end only one of them really fit our needs and gave us a great offer.”

Q: If the referendum ends in a no, when might Kwantlen get the U-Pass?

M.T: “It depends. There would have to be a conversation with the province and with Translink.”

Q: How soon or late could it be?

M.T: “That’s a good question…there’s a real possibility that if this fails, we would have to wait two years.”