MSU pushing for summer-inclusive HSR pass, expanded service to campus

At a Public Works meeting on Nov. 4, MSU president David Campbell and VP (Finance) Jeffrey Doucet briefed councillors on the MSU's proposed improvements to HSR service. The MSU is exploring a 12-month HSR student discount or a student opt-in during the summer, in addition to expanded service on the 51 route.

The MSU-HSR agreement expires every three years and is currently under renegotiation.

The MSU's proposed changes would cost roughly $400,000 more, according to the HSR's estimate. Negotiations are underway regarding how much of the cost would be shouldered by students and how much the City would invest. The results of the negotiation, including potential student fee changes, are expected to go to referendum in January 2014 during the MSU presidential election.

Before Campbell and Doucet began their presentation at City Hall this morning, some committee members questioned whether the MSU should address the committee with negotiations underway.

"I just need some clarity on the delegation - are we in negotiations with McMaster?" councillor Powers asked. "This is very awkward."

"You're going to have people who are negotiating with the City speak their case in public while binding the City from speaking their case in public," another councillor said.

The meeting's chair clarified that the committee was only to listen to the presentation and not take action.

After the initial confusion, Campbell emphasized that the MSU wanted "to give an update on the work [they are] doing with transit as it relates to retention in the city."

Currently, students pay $126.15 for an 8-month bus pass effective between September and April. Summer students may choose to buy a discounted HSR pass at $71 per month.

"Students are very happy with the value of our bus pass...but students have indicated to us that they want to invest more into transit to target enhanced service to the campus during the day as well as summer service. Those are the two issues students want us to work on," Doucet said.

The MSU also proposed that a further discount on summer bus passes would give students incentive to stay in Hamilton during the summer and consider staying in the city long-term.

When asked about summer student demographics, Doucet said about 6,000 students took summer classes last year, but most were taking just one or two courses.

"We see a lot of students getting research-type grants and who are working on campus but might not be in classes," he added.

During the question period, councillors were interested in whether enhanced service would lead to an increased student presence outside of Westdale.

"Students staying around in the summer - it's a huge factor in them being able to see the value in living in the city long-term," Campbell said. "We think the two main obstacles to students staying around in the summer are jobs and then the difficulty of getting to the jobs."

The MSU will meet with HSR representatives later this week to discuss their proposal submitted in August.