T3 Transit launches pilot project to ensure students pay their fare share

T3 Transit hasstarted a pilot project to ensure that students at the University of Prince Edward Island are paying their share of the fare.

Students who board some T3 buses will now have to scan their cards as they board. Right now, the transit agency is only operating one machine.

Full-time UPEI students are able to ride T3 buses with their student cards, the cost is included in their fees. But, T3 said staff have heard complaints about people riding the bus for free.

"When we spoke to the student union ... certain full-time students are recognizing faces perhaps that graduated last year and now they're still using their IDcard," said Mike Cassidy, owner of T3 Transit.

Transitisn't included in the fees that part-time studentspay so their cards are not valid for buses, said Cassidy.

The machine is similar to one used by the university in the dining hall and library, said Cassidy. Students tap their cards as they board the bus. If a student's card is valid, a green checkmark will appear on the machine.

It runs off of UPEI's student database and Cassidy said T3 updates the machine regularly to ensure they have the most up-to-date information when scanning cards.

If students' cards are rejected, a red X will appear. The driver will then give them a piece of paper telling them why their card could have been rejected and how to go about remedying the situation. The card could be rejected for reasons other than being invalid, explained Cassidy.Students could have a damaged card, or had their card deactivated because it was reported as lost.

"We do not turn them back, but we do suggest on the back of [their] card there is a phone number, there's an email, your card is coming up X for a reason, please go back to the university and find out why," he said.

If the students don't address the issue, they will be asked to pay for the bus in the future.

T3 Transit will evaluate the success of the program in January and decide if they want to continue and expand it.

Students' opinions

Kali Ross is a fourth-year biologystudent at UPEI, she's had her card scanned a number of times over the past couple of weeks. She said she has no problem being scanned, but said the transit agency could have provided students more notice this was occurring.

"I understand that they want to ensure that people are paying for the transit because, you know, they have bills to pay," she said."But my issue with it is I didn't see any type of warning that they were starting to do the scanning."

Ross said she has heard from other students they were unaware that part-time students were not able to ride the bus with their student cards and those students now have to go and buy a monthly transit pass.

"That's a huge expense when you're not expecting to pay for that," she said.

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