Transit Windsor triples bus pass price for St. Clair College students

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St. Clair College students are seeing “sticker shock” after Transit Windsor advised them its Saints bus pass would nearly triple in cost for the next school year.

The new price in the fall for the 12-month pass will be $823 per year — almost three times higher than the current $300 fee, or a 274-per-cent hike.

“It’s a little bit of a slight kick in the teeth to students,” Ryan Peebles, executive director of the colleges Student Representative Council (SRC), told the Star.

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“It’s a large sticker shock that students were not expecting. They can’t really afford it.”

But afford it they must if they wish to continue taking the bus. The SRC on Monday announced students in a referendum last week approved the new agreement, which still offers savings to students who use Windsor’s public transportation system much of the year.

The pass, introduced in 2022 as part of a pilot project between the SRC and Transit Windsor, offers a discounted rate for students who rely on the service. The college secured a three-year renewal, running from Sept. 1 to Aug. 31, 2028, but at a substantial cost increase.

“If you look at the price of an adult pass compared to the price that they’re getting for a Saints pass with the increase — it’s a discount of 43 per cent,” Peebles said. “Students understand that there’s inflation, but they’re upset because its a shocking sticker price to them.”

The monthly cost for an individual Transit Windsor adult pass (aged 20 and older) is $115, totaling about $1,380 annually. For students aged 19 and younger, an individual youth pass costs $78.50 per month, or $942 per year.

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With the proposed $823 annual fee, students aged 19 or younger would save about $119 over the course of the year. Students aged 20 and older would save approximately $557, compared to buying monthly passes.

“Even at that fare, the new fare, it’s still a deep discount from having to buy a regular pass,” Mayor Drew Dilkens told reporters last week. “Transit isn’t free, right? This is not a free service.

“Certainly, the college users use the system a lot, which is fantastic,” he said. “But there has to be an acknowledgement that they have to pay a fair share, and it’s not right for city taxpayers to pay a higher subsidy for international students who are studying at St. Clair College when St. Clair College is the recipient of a huge financial windfall as a result of bringing those students here.

“There has to be some appropriate cost-sharing.”

Students who do not use the city’s public transportation have the option to opt out of the bus pass during a one-month period at the start of the school year.

Peebles said up to 40 per cent of the student body, roughly 13,000 individuals, could potentially choose to opt out of the Saints pass program.

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“The benefit of the Saints pass is it’s unlimited use,” Peebles said. “It doesn’t expire in the summer months.

“It’s for all times — if they’re going to work, going to hang out with friends, or just leisure around the city — they can utilize that bus pass.”

“City council approved the fare that is up for referendum now,” Dilkens said ahead of last week’s student vote. “The students will ultimately decide, and we’re hopeful that their decision is positive.”

More details about the service are available on the St. Clair College website.

“We had a great deal for three years,” said Peebles. “We knew there’d be some increase … this came as a large shock.”

— With files from Taylor Campbell and Doug Schmidt

mholmeshill@postmedia.com

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