Another Dimension of Sustainability
So recently the City of Ottawa decided to put a hold on moving the U-pass closer to fruition. On November 12th, City councillors held a spirited bout of politics at the expense of moving the U-pass forward. I think that the council could use a lesson about another aspect of sustainability, sustainable funding sources.
The hope of the SFUO and the University of Ottawa is to use the U-pass pilot project to determine the true cost of transit for all students. Once the pilot project is finished and a true cost is determined, the students at the University of Ottawa will vote again on a referendum for the U-pass at the true cost. But the story doesn't end there, for you see students at Carleton University are ready to make the same vote. And the word on the street is that students at Algonquin College, Saint Paul's, Dominican College, and La Cité Collegiale are ready to vote as well. So if all goes according to plan than that means that there are potentially 100,000 students in the Ottawa region that could have a U-pass.
So why is this so important? Well 100,000 people is nothing to sneeze at. In fact it represents about 10% of the total population. Now Imagine that 10% of the City's population is guaranteed to pay for transit from now until...infinity I suppose. Well that means that the City of Ottawa would have an enormous source of sustainable funding.
The hope of the SFUO and the University of Ottawa is to use the U-pass pilot project to determine the true cost of transit for all students. Once the pilot project is finished and a true cost is determined, the students at the University of Ottawa will vote again on a referendum for the U-pass at the true cost. But the story doesn't end there, for you see students at Carleton University are ready to make the same vote. And the word on the street is that students at Algonquin College, Saint Paul's, Dominican College, and La Cité Collegiale are ready to vote as well. So if all goes according to plan than that means that there are potentially 100,000 students in the Ottawa region that could have a U-pass.
So why is this so important? Well 100,000 people is nothing to sneeze at. In fact it represents about 10% of the total population. Now Imagine that 10% of the City's population is guaranteed to pay for transit from now until...infinity I suppose. Well that means that the City of Ottawa would have an enormous source of sustainable funding.
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