Love the HSR feature at McMaster.

Would be better if it was for the whole year instead of just 8 months...

I don't use the HSR really often but whenever I want to go downtown or up the mountain it's a great thing to already have instead of scrounging around for the change.
After having 2 summers in different cities and having to find ways to pay for transit to get work, I appreciate the HSR bus pass SO much more. It's not even just the price, it's the annoyance of having to go in and buy the next month's pass every month. (I know that seems petty but it actually is quite annoying).

Originally Posted by arathbon

People don't seem to get the relationship here.

If you let people opt out, the price goes up. If the price goes up, those who don't use it that much will opt out and the price goes up more and more.

I realize I didn't account for it being an unstable equilibrium, but I think simplifying it was justified. The number of students who would opt out at its current price (~120) is unlikely to be that different than the number of people who would opt out at the new price (~240). The HSR seems to be something you either use a lot, or don't use at all. There isn't much middle ground (although this statement was based purely on circumstantial evidence).

In addition, a lot of bus riders who live up the mountain have complained about the people who take the bus from campus to Westdale. I'm not sure if they'd be swayed by the arguments that having people who would normally walk on the bus is beneficial

Also, some people would love the option to opt out of certain government programs (and certainly many MSU programs ), but that's an argument for a different thread.

I like the bus pass. Its useful in situations.

The bus pass is a lifesaver for me- I'm really involved in programs off campus. I also like to shop at the Nofrills on the mountain because i'm especially cheap! Hahaha I think the bus pass is not only a "green alternative" for transportation but also provides a little more incentive to students to "pop the bubble". People could argue that students rarely have time to go out anyways, but I do know of people, including myself, who use the bus pass to go out and explore Hamilton and become a part of the Hamilton community.

Yay bus pass!

I crunched some numbers so we have something concrete to work with:

The Gross income from the current HSR pass is ~$2.7 Million

To get this same amount of income from monthly passes the HSR would need ~17.5% of the undergrads to buy a monthly pass each month for 8 months (i.e. not very many students)

To recoup the cost of the HSR pass every student would have to make and average of 2 round trips on a bus every 3 weeks, that's not very many trips and I assume a vast majority of campus meets or exceeds that criteria

Simply put, it seems as though going for the HSR fee is giving us more than we'd likely get as a student body by not having it (we're actually paying less than we might without it and I assume a large number of students are recouping the value). People who drive to campus also beefit from increased parking availability and reduced congestion; the only group that may not benefit are people who live on or close enough to campus that for one reason or another never use the bus and the benefits to everyone one else should be enough to outweigh the negative for that small group.

When a new HSR pass proposal goes to referendum, don't assume it will pass. While it is true that the Yes Side won overwhelmingly in the last four referenda, it passed narrowly the first time. It depends who gets out to vote. Here are the HSR referenda results over time:

February 1997
Yes - 2,071, No - 1,900

March 2000
Yes - 1,762, No - 237

March 2003
Yes - 3,389, No - 76

March 2005
Yes - 1,766, No - 129

March 2008
Yes - 1,684, No - 201

Originally Posted by Dave.Moore

When a new HSR pass proposal goes to referendum, don't assume it will pass. While it is true that the Yes Side won overwhelmingly in the last four referenda, it passed narrowly the first time. It depends who gets out to vote. Here are the HSR referenda results over time:

February 1997
Yes - 2,071, No - 1,900

March 2000
Yes - 1,762, No - 237

March 2003
Yes - 3,389, No - 76

March 2005
Yes - 1,766, No - 129

March 2008
Yes - 1,684, No - 201

So this online survey isn't the actual thing and we'll have to go out and vote again?

Originally Posted by jhan523

So this online survey isn't the actual thing and we'll have to go out and vote again?

Yes. A referendum will probably be initiated by the Student Representative Assembly at its meeting on Sunday, November 28. The vote would then be held concurrent to the MSU presidential election in February 2011.

Very useful especially for students who live & travel across Hamilton