After students casted their votes in the AMS Winter Special Referendum, they opted in favour of the Bus-It program.
Bus-It is an AMS-ran program, established prior to 1974 and funded through a mandatory Student Activity Fee within the AMS referendum also asked non-binding plebiscite, plurality, ranked, and open questions.
Following the vote, the new fee will be increased from its current $122 to $165 for the 2025-26 school year, $180 for 2026-27, and $195 for 2027-28. According to AMS Vice-President (Operations) Ayan Chowdhury, Bus-It would have cost $660 if it was offered as an optional fee.
Chowdhury is one of the individuals within the AMS involved in negotiating the new deal. He initially met with Kingston Transit in September, with biweekly and weekly negotiations picking up in November.
In an interview with The Journal, Chowdhury outlined the importance of Bus-It.
“Queen’s is still a community, just like any other institution. And so, as a student, if I have to pay $165 so 20,000 other students can benefit from it, I’m going to do that. So, I think it’s really thinking about the people around you,” Chowdhury said.
He explained the number they agreed upon for 2025-26 came from historical precedent as since 2015, the fee rises by 36 per cent every time its renewed. The extra 10 per cent on the two years afterwards are due to the fact that compared to other University transportation fees, Queen’s has a relatively small fee—with the University of Ottawa and Carleton University paying $229 per semester.
According to Chowdhury, the increase recognizes students are still in need of extra financial compared to general Kingstonians. The adult fee for a monthly Kingston Transit is $80, in comparison to the $165 students will pay for an entire year.
“If I was an adult who had a stable income, a resident in the City of Kingston, my monthly bus would cost me $80 and so again, that value annually is probably six, seven times the amount that we pay right now,” Chowdhury said.
In an effort to enhance the current Bus-It program, Chowdhury explained conversations are underway about a tap feature on the card to replace the traditional back-of-card sticker—a yearly updated sticker students must retrieve at the beginning of the year, showing they’ve paid their AMS fees.
in the works, Chowdhury was unable to give many details, including whether this feature would be integrated into student cards or require its own bus card. One benefit he sees with having a tap card is that data could be shared with the AMS to better advocate for student needs.
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