Applause for the U-Pass

To The Carillon:

In response to the op-ed two weeks ago by Shaadie Musleh “The flaws of the U-Pass“, I’d like to offer “Applause for the U-Pass”. First, people should note that Mr. Musleh says the U-Pass is “a good thing to do”, and he’s in favour of “working towards a practical, sustainable, and efficient transportation system for the University of Regina”.

While we could dicker about the hypothetical figures presented in the op-ed, the larger point is that there is no better means for the UofR students to create a practical, sustainable, and efficient transportation system than to vote “Yes” for the U-Pass this year. Nothing else that comes close to what Musleh wants done is even on the horizon or mentioned in his article, and the U-Pass has been in the making for the better part of the last decade. It’s not time to sentence it to death by delay or further study, while every major university around us is benefiting from such a transportation system.

A Yes vote for the U-Pass is a vote to save the vast majority of students a lot of money on their transportation needs, and will make the University of Regina a better place to study, and Regina a better place to live and get around. Those who don’t opt-out and end up not directly using their U-Pass, will indirectly benefit anyway through more parking spots becoming available both on and off campus. Basically students have the choice of voting No, and spending more on parking as lots sprawl ever farther from buildings, or as we build ~$33,000/stall parkades. Or, they can vote Yes and spend less on bus passes than the City intends to charge students today, and still get more parking spots available without paving more recreational areas, or demolishing buildings and community gardens.

It’s not every year that an opportunity comes around for students to democratically decide how the City of Regina will spend millions of dollars for the direct benefit of students. A Yes vote makes UofR students into civic leaders saying “More buses, now,” and empowers student leaders like David Vanderberg, and Devon Peters to continue to work out the details Mr. Musleh is fussing over without all of the facts known. Yes, it would be nice if the City would commit to a few improvements first, but students do not have to wait for transportation leadership from a timid and even inept civic government.

John Klein

Regina, SK