By Geoff Smith (@GeoffSmithLNN on Twitter)

UPass credited with one-third increase in west-side transit ridership

Oct 17, 2018 | 11:37 AM

LETHBRIDGE – Transit usage by University of Lethbridge students is exceeding expectations following the implementation of UPass.

Transit manager Kevin Ponech said tentative figures show ridership on west-side transit routes is up 34 per cent, describing it as “very positive.”

“It seemed to go up right after we implemented UPass, so that’s why we’re kind of connecting the dots right now and it is from the university, influx from the students using the transit system now,” Ponech told LethbridgeNewsNOW in an interview.

This is the first year for UPass, which assesses each undergraduate student a $77 charge plus a $5 administration fee in exchange for a transit pass good for the semester. The cost works out to four months for the price of one.

Students can opt out if they meet certain criteria, such as living on campus, or if they live outside transit boundaries but within 80 km of Lethbridge.

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The increase in ridership has Lethbridge Transit experimenting with changes on a trial basis, to reallocate resources to where they’re needed more. Some changes were made earlier in the month, and Ponech said more trial changes are planned in the coming weeks.

“This is new to Lethbridge Transit, so we’re trying to lessen the impact to the community as much as possible by removing some of the underutilized areas,” he explained.

Even with the discounted amount, revenue is slightly higher as well. Ponech said budget presentations will take everything into account.

“There’s already been a forecasted revenue line within the system itself. It will be presented to the operating budget to city council,” he said. “The expansion to service is being brought forward in initiatives brought before council for deliberation, for operating budget deliberation.”

Ponech said it was felt all along that the service would be a benefit to students. But it was up to the students themselves to vote in favour. Two previous votes conducted by the student union rejected the proposal before it was accepted by a nearly 2-1 margin in March 2018.