Unlike students at Surrey and Langley campuses, students at Richmond campus already have fast transit access with the Canada Line stopping at Lansdowne station. (Photo by Jeff Groat)

The B.C. government has granted smaller universities access to the U-Pass program, but for students at Kwantlen, implementation is easier said than done.

The U-Pass is a subsidized bus pass program, allowing holders multi-zone access to Metro Vancouver’s bus and SkyTrain system.

For larger universities, like UBC and SFU, who are served well by Translink, Kwantlen’s campuses in the suburbs are faced with challenges that may affect how many people would actually find such a pass useful.

“This is a real challenge for, in particular, Surrey, Langley and Cloverdale students,” said Jody Gordon, Associate Vice President, Students at Kwantlen.

“[TransLink say[s] there’s no money to put on the table for service improvements, unlike past U-Pass programs,” she said.

Gordon cited UBC negotiating for extra B-line service as something that Kwantlen won’t see. This means a traditional U-Pass for Kwantlen that is merely a cheap bus pass doesn’t have the same value as it would at other universities.

According to Matt Todd, KSA Director of External Affairs, a typical bus pass needs to be coupled with a variety of other services in order to make it appealing to students who now drive to school, a number that is quite large at Kwantlen.

“There isn’t very good transit in some neighbourhoods, in what we call the south-of-Fraser region,” Todd said.
“Langley, Surrey, Delta, those communities don’t have the quality of service that other cities in the Metro Vancouver area have.

“This is a challenge for Kwantlen students, because some of them, public transit is not a reasonable option for them.”

A more direct challenge facing Kwantlen is increasing the transit service between campuses by creating an express Kwantlen route between Richmond, Surrey and Langley campuses. Such an option would need to be financed by Kwantlen at the outsest, according to Todd.

Based on what it sees as the transit shortfalls, the KSA wants to move beyond the U-Pass into what it’s calling a multipass, marrying the normal transit pass with other services that students may want.

“The U-Pass is about healthier living and sustainable living,” Todd said, citing a reason to opt for including such items as a discounted gym membership in the pass.

“Of course, not everybody is going to want to be a Gold’s Gym member, so what else can we do?” Todd asked.

Another option would be to offer students who drive a discount on parking passes, making sure everyone has something they could take advantage of with a Kwantlen-style U-Pass.

Gordon said that identifying which students would qualify for a multipass would not be easy. As some programs do not run on a regular semester-based system, some students who would find a use for the pass could go without one under the current definition.

The total cost of a multipass, with all of its extra services, would come in at about $40 according to the KSA, and would likely not be available until fall 2011, although it may be available as early as summer semester next year.

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U-Pass: A timeline

Amanda Punshon takes a look back at the history of the popular low-cost transit pass: click on each of the “bus stop” years to see how it has all unfolded.