Kwantlen University students sweetened a proposed deal for a subsidy on transit passes by offering TransLink an edible chocolate U-Pass.
The small delight backed a big pitch from the Student Transportation Expansion Program (STEP) which calls for a $10 per student monthly subsidy on transit passes for all B.C. post-secondary students, said Benjamin Newsom, UPass coordinator for the Kwantlen Student Association.
“What we see STEP being is an investment in the future of transportation in B.C,” Newsom said. “You’re going to be investing in a new generation of lifelong transit users because once you start using public transportation at this age you continue to use it.”
KSA employee Newsom had no data to back up his claim, but cited anecdotal evidence that young riders often took transit for life.
The hard reality, he added, is provincial and transport authority budgets are tight but the B.C. Liberal government, however, did promise a universal transit pass for students.
TransLink spokesperson Ken Hardie accepted the edible treat on behalf of CEO Ian Jarvis but offered words of caution to the students.
“The difficulties we face in increasing the subsidy to one group of riders becomes something that’s formidable in how we go forward. If we subsidize one group other groups will ask why not us.”
