Students at the University of Ottawa (U of O) and Saint Paul University (SPU) are part of a pilot project to test smart card U-Passes with OC Transpo.
The smart cards were initially tested during the summer 2016 semester at the U of O, and were used to collect data to improve the U-Pass program, according to an article in the Ottawa Citizen. The smart cards will now be the official U-Pass cards for both universities.
“The long-term goal with the U-Passes at all universities has been to make them into smart cards,” said Fahd Alhattab, president of the Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA).
“We will likely see a change in [Carleton’s] U-Pass maybe next September into the smart card, and if not next September then the year after,” Alhattab said.
According to Alhattab, the launch of Carleton’s new summer U-Pass in May is what led the university to decline to participate in the smart card pilot program.
“We can adapt the program when it’s ready,” Alhattab said. “I don’t think we’re in any rush. The difference in benefits highly benefit OC Transpo; it doesn’t change much for our student body. It still gives them access to all the buses.”
He added OC Transpo is working with both CUSA and Carleton to ensure the U-Pass is converted into a smart card smoothly.
To use the smart cards, students tap their U-Passes on the Presto readers when boarding Société de transport de l’Outaouais (STO) and OC Transpo buses. The U-Pass is available to full-time students at U of O and SPU and is valid on all routes.
Richard Vlaicu, a second-year commerce student at U of O, said he uses the U-Pass often to get around Ottawa.
“I don’t like how it’s like a Presto pass now, where you have to tap a screen before getting on a bus,” Vlaicu said. “The pass still has a picture on it, and I feel that by tapping, complications could arise and add to the stress of student life.”
Hannah Vautour, a second-year English and Law student at Carleton, sees no reason to change the current U-Pass system.
“I love the U-Pass and I don’t think they should make any changes to it,” Vautour said. “With the way the U-Pass works now, it would be inconvenient to switch [to a smart card].”
