University of Lethbridge student urges city to halve price of post-secondary transit passes
University of Lethbridge student Angie Nikoleychuk had to quit her job when she returned to classes last fall after her daily commute to the school became so taxing and lengthy.
When she took to social media, she found a group of almost 600 students facing similar circumstances.
Frustration with parking at the school lead Nikoleychuk to try city transit, which she found to be inefficient but more importantly expensive — costing her $578 for one school year.
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"So I started talking to some of the other students, talking to single moms who can't get back and forth between their jobs, their daycare and the school," she said.
"People who couldn't afford to shell out more money on a transit pass after they had already shelled out for things like a vehicle, fuel and insurance. People who didn't have any other options, so they were forced to leave school."
On Monday, Nikoleychuk took the matter before Lethbridge city council, asking them to slash transit fees to help mitigate the stress on students.
In her proposal, she asked that fees be halved for students who opt to take transit, bringing their fares in line with the city's seniors' rate.
Parking problems
Originally the issue wasn't city transit at all, but limited parking spots on campus after the university closed several spaces back in May 2016 in order to start construction on a new science building on campus, says Nikoleychuk.
It wasn't until a month into the fall semester that alternative spots were made available near the school's stadium.
"Unfortunately it was a bit of a disorganized mess," she told CBC News.
Hours the compound would be open and when students could access the spots was unclear, and Nikoleychuk says there were instances where cars were locked into the compound overnight.
"So it was just a big disaster. Not only that but they didn't offer that option until after students had already paid all their fees, so most of us didn't have money to [purchase the new passes]," she said.
The university's administration has received complaints regarding inaccessibility of parking, but John O'Keeffe says they've also received complaints on the other side of the spectrum. Some students are upset that parking is too inexpensive and accessible, therefore not creating enough of an incentive for students to take transit and a more environmentally friendly commute to school.
O'Keeffe is the executive director of campus security, which includes the parking portfolio. He says the school has risen to meet the needs of students when it comes to parking, adding that in the new lot, there are still over 100 passes up for grabs.
However, despite the parking situation on campus, O'Keeffe said the school will stand behind any move by the city to get more students taking transit.
"Our campus can only grow so much and we can't asphalt every bit of green grass that we've got," he said.
Council to revisit issue
Since the parking dispute between students and the university's administration seems to be at the root of the issue, some city councillors were concerned they were being dragged into a battle that wasn't theirs to fight.
It was Coun. Jeffrey Coffman who defended the proposal, saying he supported it in theory and bringing rates down to what seniors pay seemed reasonable.
"I would love to see us work toward some kind of accommodation here," he said.
"I think this is a great way of supporting our post-secondary institutions."
Coffman floated the idea of lowering student rates for a year as a pilot project, so council would have more information when they entered their next budget cycle.
Council voted to have university administrators gather more information and will revisit the proposal on March 27.
Nikoleychuk said she'd hoped there would be unanimous support for her proposal right off the bat, but knew that wasn't likely.
"At least, regardless of what happens moving forward, I know that the decision will be really well informed. So I'm actually really quite pleased," she said.
