Students hoping to have the U-Pass in hand by Summer Semester are going to have to wait a bit longer. The hope was that the reduced-rate public transit passes - which cost $30 per month - would be available this May for summer students, but TransLink has not provided a workable agreement in time.
Negotiations between TransLink, the provincial government and a coalition of all Metro Vancouver public post-secondary institutions* and student associations will now focus on having passes available for the Fall 2011 Semester.
“It's very disappointing that our students won’t have U-Passes this summer,” says Blaine Jensen, Vice President of Educational Services at Douglas College. “Unfortunately, TransLink hasn’t responded to our concerns about their contract.”
Jensen says the coalition has notified TransLink that to implement the U-Pass BC Program for Fall semester they need a contract in place by mid-April.
“Our 11 institutions are united in wanting a fair agreement that provides long term benefits to students and one that institutions can sustain," says Jensen. “But we're not quite there – there are some contractual issues to be worked out. TransLink and the Province are well aware of our concerns and we’re waiting to hear how they will respond."
U-Pass BC Program will provide eligible Metro Vancouver Public Post Secondary students system-wide public transit access for a reduced rate of $30 per month.
*UBC, SFU, Capilano University, Emily Carr University of Art and Design, Vancouver Community College, Douglas College, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, BCIT, Langara College, Nicola Valley Institute of Technology and the Justice Institute of BC.
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It's Ken Hardie from TransLink here: There is some confusion -- TransLink is offering Douglas and Kwantlen the same contract that was used to get Emily Carr and VCC on board. It's available right now...it can be signed off right now...and students can have their U-Passes in time for May.
ReplyDeleteWe too understand the desire to have the final contract in place and are working with Mr. Jensen's coalition over the final few details. All going well, they could be resolved before the end of the month. That's not soon enough for Kwantlen and Douglas to meet a May launch date, which is why the Emily Carr contract is on the table.
ridiculous politician liars. dont make a promise you can't keep.
ReplyDeleteThank god!!!! I can't think of a better way for me to waste my money than on a U-pass... God I hope it takes another 3 semesters for it to come in.
ReplyDeleteBlaine Jensen – Douglas College: the reason Douglas and Kwantlen have not signed the interim contact is because it has too many inconsistencies and contradictions. Our lawyers tell us there are huge legal and financial risks and recommended not signing. These financial implications could divert tuition, scholarships and bursaries to subsidizing a transit program. Ken Hardie points out that a final contract (that is much improved) is about to be finalized. We haven’t seen it yet. So it is too late to have a proper legal review in time for summer semester registration. :-(
ReplyDeletewhy make promises if you cant keep them... first you said it will be available by May now its being pushed back a semester.. what a joke!
ReplyDeleteShould of never introduced it in the first place.. if promises like these keep breaking no will support you!
Thank you to Mr. Hardie for responding personally on this matter.
ReplyDeleteThanks Mr.Hardie for the explanation, I'm not quite sure what title you hold with Translink, but it's nice that someone from the organization is responding.
ReplyDelete... What was the point of voting?
ReplyDeletethis is so disappointing = =.
It suck's $ 51 more on the regular pass :(
ReplyDeleteWouldn't the Douglas College community be better served by a translink bus running daily on the 1/2 hour between lougheed station and the Coquitlam Campus? It seems the obvious solutions continue to escape the decision makers. Talk about pathways and accessibility - we're accessible, just not between campuses in any timely transit way that makes sense. Why does it take us so long to adopt stategies that have been successfully in place for other institutions in Canada for decades?
ReplyDeleteJust scrap the whole thing. It's a stupid waste of money anyway... It supports being a loser and riding the bus.
ReplyDelete