Transit considering new student bus pass: chair

Public school students could have a new bus pass system by the start of the next school year, says the chairwoman of the Victoria Regional Transit Commission.

“That would be the goal,” Susan Brice said after a visit from a Greater Victoria school district delegation. “But, realistically, there’s a lot to consider. There’s the cost factor, there’s the convenience factor.”

Justin Lo, a Grade 12 student at Mount Douglas Secondary, renewed a student-led call to bring back the B.C. Transit youth pass. Students paid $35 a month for the multi-month youth pass, which was eliminated in March. They now pay $45 for a monthly pass.

Bringing back the youth pass would cost about $500,000 a year. It was eliminated as part of an effort by the transit commission to reduce the products it offers.

B.C. Transit gave commissioners a pair of options to consider, including a universal-pass program — similar to one in place for post-secondary students — that would bring the monthly fee to $11.25 but require all Grade 8-12 students in the region to take part. The other is a bulk-purchase program of monthly passes that would put the monthly fee at $36.

But Greater Victoria school board chairwoman Edith LoringKuhanga said the universal pass would not work because fees can’t be charged to students, while the bulk-purchase option puts all of the risk and responsibility for administration on the school district.

Taking that step would cost the district “significant dollars that are intended for education.”

Loring-Kuhanga joined the call for the youth pass to be reinstated, saying its elimination could limit students’ “ability to access public education.”

Brice said the move toward a new student plan is “a work in progress.” She said that transit staff and school representatives will need to keep talking, and that the Saanich and Sooke school districts should be part of the process.

A separate discussion is underway with private schools.