Ryerson University students won't be getting controversial mandatory TTC pass
After months of discussion, voting and controversy, Ryerson University's mandatory transit pass will not proceed for the upcoming school year.
This means students won't be charged $560 annually for the unlimited TTC pass.
Last November, nearly 43 per cent of Ryerson's student body voted in a referendum on whether or not to introduce the pass, which would have provided students with an unlimited pass for $70 a month instead of $122.45.
Of the 16,331 students that voted, 6,079 students voted against implementing the pass and 10,252 voted for it.
Those who voted against were unhappy with the results because the only students who could choose to opt out of the pass were students with accessibility needs, meaning those who don't use the TTC would still have to pay for it.
The only thing I can semi-thank the Ford government for is implementing requirements for transit passes since opting out of compulsory student fees is now an option. Bye bye RU Pass. My bank account can now rest easy.
— yasmine (@yasminemirkovic) July 9, 2019
Because Ryerson is largely a commuter school, those students are the minority.
The pass was set to come into effect in September of the upcoming school year but in March, the Ontario government released new post-secondary tuition and ancillary fee guidelines.
The framework includes a list of what can be considered an "essential" fee and what cannot.
It also specifies that only transit pass programs with fully executed agreements in place before January 17, 2019 can be considered compulsory, which the RU-pass did not have.
Because of this, it will not go ahead this year.
The news was announced to Ryerson students in an email earlier today.
HA HA! Take that RU Pass! pic.twitter.com/pgE7I73G5l
— Jared Gosson (@JaredGosson) July 9, 2019
There's no word yet on whether it will be implemented in the following school year, but either way, those non-commuter students who protested the pass are pretty happy right about now.
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