Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 25/3/2015 (2005 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

City hall is moving ahead with a discount transit pass for students at the University of Winnipeg and the University of Manitoba.

The transit pass, known as U-Pass, will begin in September 2016.

Students at both universities, who reside in Winnipeg, will be issued a pass in exchange for a $260 increase in student fees. Participation is mandatory.

An administrative report says the transit pass will cost city hall $580,000 in 2016 and $1.3 million annually thereafter, not including the $4.6 million cost to purchase 8 additional buses to handle the additional number of transit riders.

The initiative was praised by several members of council but also criticized by Couns. Russ Wyatt and Jeff Browaty who said the subsidy was too steep. Coun. Scott Gillingham objected to the initiative being mandatory for students.

aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca