Ottawa councillors voted 22-2 Jan. 28 in support of creating a U-Pass pilot program for students at both Carleton and the University of Ottawa. President of Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) Erik Halliwell said he is pleased with the decision.

“There’s an unprecedented level of student engagement with the City of Ottawa and every single time the City of Ottawa has capitulated to students’ demands,” Halliwell said. “Students and the City of Ottawa are very united around a lot of common issues and it shows.”

The pass will cost Ottawa an estimated $3 million taken from the city’s transit reserve fund and will cost students $145 per term, a mandatory fee for all students to be paid through student fees. However, the deal will need to go through a referendum at both universities in order to be finalized.

A referendum question has been proposed for the upcoming CUSA elections, asking students if they support a mandatory bus pass for all full-time undergraduates beginning in September 2010. The question needs 1,000 signatures in order to appear on the referendum ballot. Students at the University of Ottawa will also be voting in a similar referendum next month. If the majority of students answer “No” to the referendum question,

“We don’t get a U-Pass. It’s just that simple,” Halliwell said. Halliwell said the $145 price tag “isn’t the ideal number, but it’s something we negotiated to get and I think it’s going to be the best we are going to get right now. But it’s up to the electorate to decide.” He said he thinks Carleton students will vote in favour of the U-Pass. “There are strength in numbers,” Halliwell said. “And students are becoming more of a priority.”