Effective July 1st, 2016 the fare for York Region Transit (YRT) is $3.50 (for purchasers of booklets of 10 and Presto card users). What you might not be aware of, however, is that both adults and post-secondary students are forced to pay this fare.

According to email correspondence with YRT, there are more than 12,000 York University students living in York Region. Furthermore, there are countless students that rely on YRT to get them to Finch/Downsview stations in order to get to University of Toronto- 2 of the largest campuses in the GTA region- or Ryerson. Not to mention the masses of post-secondary students that rely on the system to get to their college and university campuses in the York Region itself. It is clear that post-secondary students rely heavily on this system!

So who does YRT give discounts to? High school students. While it is much appreciated that YRT gives a discount to these students (who pay $2.70), it equally makes sense- if not more- to allow post-secondary students a discount as well. While most high school students have their parents fund their transportation needs, most post-secondary students do not have that luxury. Most post-secondary students work part-time job(s) trying to afford the college/university life. Tuition costs are high enough in this province without transportation costs making it much harder to fund one's own education.

Does it make sense that a full-time employed adult pay the same fare as a student (potentially) working part-time and attempting to fund him/herself through college/university? NO! Does it make sense that high school students get the luxury to pay less for transportation while post-secondary students are penalized for it? NO! Does it make sense that post-secondary students are being discouraged from using public transportation and decreasing their carbon footprint? NO!

Further correspondence with YRT has proven that a program similar to the U-Pass system "in other communities has shown that it increases transit ridership overall, thereby improving the health of communities by reducing car travel and associated harmful emissions." So what is YRT waiting for? We're not even asking for free unlimited transit funded by a student levy at our university (aka the U-Pass program). All we're asking for is a discounted fare- similar to the system the TTC introduced back in 2010.

PLEASE INTRODUCE A DISCOUNTED FARE FOR POST-SECONDARY STUDENTS!