RU-Pass referendum will take place Oct. 29

By Raneem Alozzi

The RU-Pass referendum will take place Oct. 29-Nov. 1, Ryerson University has announced.

If the referendum passes, all full-time Ryerson students will have to pay a mandatory levy each semester—starting in September 2019—for an RU-Pass, an unlimited travel pass for the TTC: Busses, subways and streetcars.

The discounted passes would mean a mandatory $282 increase in student fees per semester, a total of $564 per year. That equals out to about $70 for unlimited TTC transit per month, which is almost $50 less than the current cost for a post-secondary monthly Metropass.

The pass would be mandatory for students studying at Ryerson in the fall and winter semesters. Spring and summer students would be able to opt in as well, Ryerson announced in a press release.

A similar referendum to implement a universal transit pass for students failed at the University of Toronto earlier this year. Former University of Toronto Students’ Union President Mathias Memmel said it wasn’t sellable because there wasn’t an opt-out provision for students who live close to campus.

The Eye previously reported that Salman Faruqi, vice-president education at the Ryerson Students’ Union, said the pass would benefit commuter and non-commuter students by allowing them to expand their Toronto experience.

Students will be able to vote on whether or not they want to implement the pass campus-wide on my.ryerson.ca.

Eligible voters who want to campaign for the referendum can register in groups of three on the board of governors referendum website.