June 17 - Douglas, student union celebrate U-Pass signing

Public transportation just got a lot cheaper for Douglas College students.

Yesterday the college signed the U-Pass agreement with the Douglas Students' Union (DSU). The pass will become available beginning this fall semester.

"We're very excited to sign this agreement with the DSU and TransLink," says Blaine Jensen, VP of educational services at Douglas. "It will make a huge difference for our students, it meets the goal of making our institution more sustainable and it contributes to a wonderful rider culture that we should be promoting within the Lower Mainland."

In December, the DSU held a U-Pass referendum, with 94 percent of students voting in favour of joining the U-Pass BC Program.  

Catherine Pham, college relations coordinator for the DSU, says the DSU has been working toward obtaining the U-Pass for Douglas students for the past five years.

"We are all really happy about this change," Pham says. "A lot of Douglas students feel they're missing out on certain things, and the U-Pass is a big step toward fixing this. I think, as students, it will bring us closer together, because we will feel more like a college."

The U-Pass BC Program provides eligible Metro Vancouver public post-secondary students with system-wide public transit access for a reduced rate of $30 per month.