For nearly four years, the price of the Universal Transit Pass, or U-Pass, has stayed steady at $180 thanks to a historic price freeze. But, whether that price tag will go up or down in 2025 was the question at the centre of talks between the city and SAMU. 

Representatives from SAMU and other Edmonton students’ associations began negotiations with the Edmonton Transit Service in July, speaking on behalf of over 70,000 students who use the U-Pass service. Talks are expected to have concluded by the end of September. 

“ETS wasn’t expecting us to speak with one voice,” says Joseph A. La Torre, SAMU’s vice-president (governance and finance), referring to how, in the past, not all students’ associations shared the same view on cost. 

Talks this year have been a group effort focused on the value of the U-Pass service in the eyes of students in light of growing concerns about safety and accessibility.

“There is not a foundation of quality right now,” La Torre says. “We want to make sure we get the best deals possible for students.”

For Shae Akindele, a student who lives in MacEwan Residence, the U-Pass is hardly worth the cost. 

“Honestly, I think it should be fine to just not have it,” Akindele says. “I think a lot of students don’t even realize they have it, and they’re just paying without realizing it.”

“It’s really unsafe, so why would I pay more just to get stabbed by someone who’s on something, you know?”

While violent crime at ETS stops rose nearly 53 per cent between 2021 and 2022, recent city reports from the summer indicate that crime on transit is dropping, and riders are beginning to feel safer.

Still, it’s possible that due to rising fuel costs, ETS will push for more revenue on the U-Pass alongside the already planned increase in cash transit fares. 

But even if costs go up, Hamza Habib, a student at MacEwan, thinks it may be a bad idea to get rid of the U-Pass and that too many students rely on it to get around. 

“At the end of the day, if you’re coming to university and already paying like 3k, 4k a semester – $200 [speculatively] isn’t like the end of the world.”

While it’s still uncertain whether the costs will change, once the price is locked in, MacEwan students will vote in a March referendum to decide whether or not to keep the group discount for the next four years. 

In previous years, MacEwan students haven’t wavered less than 70 per cent of their support for the U-Pass. 

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Photo by Amanda Erickson