Originally Posted by Grover

What about those with night class until 10? What about those who work late to pay for tuition or rent? Or those who assist after hours on campus volunteering? There is no denying that young people aren't getting enough sleep these days, which has its own share of health risks. To wake up for 7:30, a person should, ideally, be asleep by 10:30.

That's cutting it close with regard to people finishing at 10. And it's $121.80, according to McMaster's website.

Why are you asking me questions? I wake up at 6.45 everyday to travel an hour and I sleep at 11-ish. Maybe you should push for the university to not have classes until 9pm, I'm sure even the rez people would agree with that.

And $121.80 still isn't much compared to what people would have to pay if this deal wasn't in place but that's not a reason for excuse. You still need to say what you have in mind for solving this though.

@Chris, I think everyone will appreciate if you take these threads seriously instead of pooping in them.

Seems to me you are taking up this campaign from dogma built by a late arrival and or statistical anomaly in the HSR's arrival times which you have been a victim of.

Originally Posted by Afzal

$121.80 still isn't much compared to what people would have to pay if this deal wasn't in place

It boggles my mind how many people don't realize this! A MONTHLY pass is $87.00, per month! We have an amazing deal worked out, and people really fail to realize this. (Source: http://www.hamilton.ca/NR/rdonlyres/...brochure.pd f )

Originally Posted by Eric_G

It boggles my mind how many people don't realize this! A MONTHLY pass is $87.00, per month! We have an amazing deal worked out, and people really fail to realize this. (Source: http://www.hamilton.ca/NR/rdonlyres/...brochure.pd f )

You're saving $574.20/person.

I wonder if the HSR is actually losing money. I know not everyone uses their bus pass, and if we didn't have them included in supp fees not everyone would buy one either. But I wonder if losing nearly six hundred dollars per person who would have bought the pass is worth it for them. I know that's the main reason you can't opt-out of the bus pass, because then it's financially stupid from HSR's perspective, but I wonder how the numbers actually would work out.

Originally Posted by starfish

You're saving $574.20/person.

I wonder if the HSR is actually losing money. I know not everyone uses their bus pass, and if we didn't have them included in supp fees not everyone would buy one either. But I wonder if losing nearly six hundred dollars per person who would have bought the pass is worth it for them. I know that's the main reason you can't opt-out of the bus pass, because then it's financially stupid from HSR's perspective, but I wonder how the numbers actually would work out.

I think the reason they're willing to do it is because they're pulling a profit from it-- but it's all just speculation. I'd imagine the mass purchase, as it's mandatory, outweighs the "potential" profit. I doubt the city would continue to let the deal go on if it they weren't pulling in some profit from it.

Originally Posted by Eric_G

I think the reason they're willing to do it is because they're pulling a profit from it-- but it's all just speculation. I'd imagine the mass purchase, as it's mandatory, outweighs the "potential" profit. I doubt the city would continue to let the deal go on if it they weren't pulling in some profit from it.

There are other factors though...even if HSR doesn't profit directly, the city's economy might because students are more likely to go places (downtown) more frequently than they would if they didn't have a bus pass, and therefore will be spending more money to put into the city's economy. Also, if they want to get Mac grads to stay in/around Hamilton after they graduate, these students need to become familiar with the city in order to want to stay, and the bus pass allows that.

Maybe I'm just extraordinarily cheap, but I know I wouldn't have gone out and done a lot of the things I did if I didn't have a bus pass.

Also, I'm not sure how long the pass has been mandatory for, but I assume Mac's population has grown a lot since then. There are more people living further away from the university who would be more likely to buy bus passes regardless of whether or not they're mandatory.

I am sure they pull a profit from it since many people would likely choose other methods of getting around if the pass wasn't prepaid. I have used the bus only a handful of times in the last couple years since I live close to Mac and the stores. I try to opt-out but they wont let me :(

As a student who lives 10 kilometres from the school and likes to adventure all over the city by bus (and has been using the HSR for ten years) I'd like to point out that McMaster enjoys some of the best bus service in the city. Is it a pain in the butt sometimes, and do you have to plan ahead? Yeah - but it's a heck of a lot better than the $500/month I was paying to insure and fuel my car, never mind maintenance costs. The only time I'm late for class is if my toddler is hanging onto my leg because he doesn't want me to leave. Sometimes there are anomalies - if none of the buses you're waiting for are coming, there's a good chance they've been detoured because of an accident or a broken water main - and the city will be fixing that problem for a lot of people very soon by opening up live transit data for public use so you can see when that happens!

Originally Posted by ashleighp

As a student who lives 10 kilometres from the school and likes to adventure all over the city by bus (and has been using the HSR for ten years) I'd like to point out that McMaster enjoys some of the best bus service in the city. Is it a pain in the butt sometimes, and do you have to plan ahead? Yeah - but it's a heck of a lot better than the $500/month I was paying to insure and fuel my car, never mind maintenance costs. The only time I'm late for class is if my toddler is hanging onto my leg because he doesn't want me to leave. Sometimes there are anomalies - if none of the buses you're waiting for are coming, there's a good chance they've been detoured because of an accident or a broken water main - and the city will be fixing that problem for a lot of people very soon by opening up live transit data for public use so you can see when that happens!

Thats pretty sad that we're receiving some of the best service in the city, considering that what we're getting is pretty bad...

Originally Posted by amare

Thats pretty sad that we're receiving some of the best service in the city, considering that what we're getting is pretty bad...

It's not bad. It's just main/king mostly, and at the morning rush... honestly every other time and location on bus routes, things have always been on time and smooth. Drivers are dicks sometimes though.

If you're not totally stupid (not speaking to anyone specifically) just plan ahead and go to the previous bus stop, and you make somebody else wait.

My feeling on this topic is that most people who complain about the bus service probably never had to take a bus before coming to McMaster. Occasionally buses are a little late for very legitimate reasons. Sometimes they are a touch early (but the HSR asks that you be at the stop at least three minutes before the scheduled time). The only way you get rid of that problem completely is to get rid of human drivers and refuse to stop for passengers when running even seconds behind.
And as far as people on Sterling not being able to get on the bus - it's less than a ten minute walk from King and Sterling to the campus. Unless there is something wrong with your legs you can walk or bike to class. Even in the middle of winter I sometimes make the trip by bike from the other side of the city!

Suck it up and walk. Students commuting from anything further than a 30 min walk have a legit point. Anyone living anywhere around Westdale/Ainslie Wood has zero reason to complain.

Better yet, get a bike. It takes me no more than 15 min to get to any of my classes and I'm not particularly close to campus. There has been maybe two weeks all year where I could not bike due to weather so Canadian winters is not an excuse either.

Originally Posted by Porsche911

Suck it up and walk. Students commuting from anything further than a 30 min walk have a legit point. Anyone living anywhere around Westdale/Ainslie Wood has zero reason to complain.

Better yet, get a bike. It takes me no more than 15 min to get to any of my classes and I'm not particularly close to campus. There has been maybe two weeks all year where I could not bike due to weather so Canadian winters is not an excuse either.

I was going to write this, then I remembered there's something called winter.