The bus routes are almost the same in the summer, except the 51 does not run. There are a few changes in some routes (like the beeline), but it's not very much. Those changes are usually posted on the HSR website sometime in June. You can email them and ask specifically which week, they probably know that by now.

You can buy a monthly HSR pass from Shoppers or a corner store, or you can buy a 4 month (May 1-Aug 31) pass through McMaster. Last year, I think it cost me about $250, which was good because I took the bus to and from work every day. It really depends on how often you plan on taking the bus. The 4 month McMaster pass is definately cheaper than 4 separate months of HSR passes. Regardless, it will still be cheaper than driving


Kind of side note: The deal we get for the 8 month HSR pass right now is pretty amazing in itself. We only pay about $100 for 8 months. Each HSR pass per month $90 - so we're definately getting a great deal. But there would be way less students taking the HSR in the summer, compared to the school year, so it wouldn't be fair for the school to charge everyone for something that very few people would use. There was already a tiny "uproar" either last year or the year before because some students didn't like paying the $100 fee in their tuition to help HSR users save hundreds per year. I can't imagine many people would be happy if they had to pay for summer months as well.
It also might have to do something with the fact that your student fees are only supposed to cover you for 8 months. I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure the fees we pay each year in tuition, such as the dental coverage or the radio station (random things like that), are only available September-April.

Originally Posted by l.esho

When I paid my vast amounts of money towards tuition, I was under the impression that I was paying for the public transportation for the school year.
I didn't know it excluded the summer.

I just feel inconvienienced is all.

Your tuition goes to McMaster, not the HSR.

Originally Posted by l.esho

I was under the impression that I was paying...for the school year.
I didn't know it excluded the summer.

The school year is Sept-April, it doesn't include summer since we're not in school then.

In addition, by paying for the bus during the summer you won't come anywhere close to what most people have to pay yearly. A regular monthly pass is $87, which adds up to $1044 for a year. Mac students pay $102.70 for 8 months, and there's one that's about $250 for summer students. Even if you don't qualify for the summer student pass, you're still paying only about $450 for the year. This is an incredible deal - how are you being screwed over?

Maegs - everyone who is a returning undergraduate student (or a student during the summer months and graduating in the fall) qualifies for the summer student pass.

Graduate students get their own specific bus passes for the entire year.

So basically the only people who don't qualify for cheap summer passes are people who aren't McMaster students.

Kathy2 - thanks for the clarification, I wasn't sure if you had to actually be registered in the summer session or not

Perhaps any frustrated students might benefit from an explanation...

The reason the bus pass is so cheap is because they're 'bought in bulk.' The HSR and Mac sat down and said "Ok, we have approximately x students who will be buying a pass, and we expect it to cost $y per day in bus fares."

They then said "Oh, well we'll split the cost among all students to make it more manageable."

During the summer however, much much fewer students will buy the pass...so the cost is split, yes, but among fewer students resulting in a higher fee.

Originally Posted by Mowicz

Perhaps any frustrated students might benefit from an explanation...

The reason the bus pass is so cheap is because they're 'bought in bulk.' The HSR and Mac sat down and said "Ok, we have approximately x students who will be buying a pass, and we expect it to cost $y per day in bus fares."

They then said "Oh, well we'll split the cost among all students to make it more manageable."

During the summer however, much much fewer students will buy the pass...so the cost is split, yes, but among fewer students resulting in a higher fee.

It's a cross-subsidization not a bulk discount. When originally negotiated in the mid-90s, the pass was designed to be revenue neutral for the HSR. All the students who don't take the HSR on a regular (or at all) basis pay to subsidize the UPass of students who used to purchase monthly passes.

Err to my knowledge(correct me if I'm wrong), your "tuition" to "McMaster" has nothing to do with anything here, the HSR Bus pass fee & negotiations come under the McMaster Student's Union Budget line and jurisdiction. It is part of the supplementary fee.

Originally Posted by huzaifa47

Err to my knowledge(correct me if I'm wrong), your "tuition" to "McMaster" has nothing to do with anything here, the HSR Bus pass fee & negotiations come under the McMaster Student's Union Budget line and jurisdiction. It is part of the supplementary fee.

Actually, the fee does not go onto the MSU books. The university collects the fee and cuts a cheque to the HSR for 97% of the fee collected.

McMaster takes 1.5% as an administrative fee for doing all the collecting and administration for the UPass.

The McMaster Student Union takes a 1.5% cut of the pass.

Originally Posted by fullsmash26

Actually, the fee does not go onto the MSU books. The university collects the fee and cuts a cheque to the HSR for 97% of the fee collected.

McMaster takes 1.5% as an administrative fee for doing all the collecting and administration for the UPass.

The McMaster Student Union takes a 1.5% cut of the pass.

Oh okay, I was just randomly recalling seeing HSR Revenue somewhere on the Budget Document....

The 1.5% the MSU takes from the plan could be that line. It could also be ticket sales at Compass.

Originally Posted by fullsmash26

It's a cross-subsidization not a bulk discount.

I'm confused...I didn't describe a bulk discount (for the regular, 8 month pass) did I?

A bulk discount is 'all students get it for this much, you can buy it if you'd like." The summer term is more like a bulk discount...because everybody who buys the pass intends to use it.