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TTC Deals Always Come With a Catch…
At right: $41.50? Those were the days, my friend.
The TTC has announced that they may offer university students a $59 Metropass, but only if the universities will let them hide it in a student services’ fee hike. We think the idea of a cheap Metropass for students is fabulous, and long overdue (although next to Montreal’s $33.75 monthly transit pass for students, $59 doesn’t exactly look like a bargain) – we’re still bitter that the TTC didn’t extend the current student discount ($83.25, as opposed to the regular $98.50) to university students until the year after Torontoist graduated. (We’re also bitter that they replaced U. Rule with people with real names, but that’s neither here nor there, and anyway it’s probably way past time we got over it already).
But we’re torn on the proposal to hide it in jacked up student fees. On the one hand, student service fees are high enough, and there are always going to be students who would prefer to opt out (according the to the article linked above, there will be no option to opt out). On the other hand, maybe given a mandatory Metropass (they’re calling it the U-Pass, like in Edmonton) students who wouldn’t normally have chosen to buy a transit pass will be encouraged to explore the city more, since they have one anyway. And there’s always Craig’s List – we’re sure many a recent graduate would be happy to get their mitts on a student-priced Metropass.