Universal transit pass

In North America, a Universal Transit Pass or Universal Access Transit Pass (U-Pass) is a program that gives students enrolled in participating post-secondary institutions unlimited access to local transit. Programs are either funded through mandatory fees that eligible students pay in each term in which they are registered or included in the students' tuition. For example, the University of Washington and the U-Pass program in Chicago have mandatory U-Pass fees. Fees are transferred to the local transit authority to fund the required transit service. Because fees are collected from a large participant base, U-Pass prices are lower than the amount students would otherwise pay for monthly passes or tickets over the course of a term. The U-Pass price charged to students depends on a variety of factors which differ among municipalities, transit systems and post-secondary institutions.

U-Pass programs offer students a way to lower their transportation costs while at school and also benefit the local community and the environment. U-Pass programs can provide the following benefits:

U-Pass programs that require a 100% adoption rate by universities may subsidize the U-Pass at the expense of students who own a car, walk, or bike to school and do not use transit to get to other locations. Some U-Pass programs offer exemptions for students with mobility restrictions and students that live out of the program range, such as exemptions for students who live in Quebec but commute to school in Ottawa, Ontario.

Other disadvantages include:

Thirty academic institutions throughout Canada currently participate in a U-Pass program. In 1973, Queen's University became the first university in Canada to implement a universal transit pass program. The "Bus-It" program was implemented with Kingston Transit. Nearby St. Lawrence College also participates in this program. Students are required to pay for the service as part of student activity fees. Several Canadian universities have implemented a UPass program.

The Brandon University Students' Union offers a UPass program with Brandon Transit. The UPass was last negotiated in 2015 at $16 increasing by $1/year for 5 years.

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