For years the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) has not allowed University and College students to buy their monthly Metropasses at a discounted rate. The issue that post-secondary students had was that their high school counterparts did get a discount on their monthly passes.  On November 17, 2009 that changed because the Fair Students Fares campaign, that was started by local universities like the University of Toronto and other GTA (Greater Toronto Area) Colleges and Universities that are apart of the of the Canadian Federation of Students.

The “Fair Student Fares campaign gathered more than 5,000 petition signatures and had almost 1,000 emails sent to Commission members urging them to protect students from fare increases” according to a newsletter put out by Hadia Akhtar,VP External Affairs for the University of Toronto Students’ Union. As a result of an eco-friendly campaign that relied heavily on e-mails students will now be able to purchase their metropasses at the discounted high school fare next fall. This means that more students will be able to afford an eco-friendly mode of transit as their primary means of transportation.

Pursuing higher education is a costly endeavor once you factor in room and board, tuition and books.  Add to that, the students who live off campus or on the far corners of large campuses like the University of Toronto St. George Campus, rely on transit especially in the winter. Also, Akhtar’s message to students said “extending the high school discount price to the Metropass will save students double what they save now from the Volume Incentive Program, and there will no longer be the possibility of passes selling out.”

This is a double victory as they have an eco-friendly and economical means of transit. In this harsh economic climate it is a wonder that the TTC gave in to the demands of student groups, but it does show what a grass roots campaign can achieve.  This is similar to the green movement which is the largest grass roots campaign ever organized.  By fighting for an eco-friendly and economical means of transit thousands of students will not only be helping themselves in the short term but the planet in the long run.  The better way just got a whole lot better.