Algonquin College students can ride the rails for free this month
The Light Rail Transit, OC-Transpo and Para-Transpo are offering a month of free ridership throughout December.
Following the Sept. 19 derailment of the LRT, Ottawa City Council approved a motion that would give riders a free month of transit service due to the delays that came with the prolonged, 54-day repairs to the rail system.
OC-Transpo was the one planning the reimbursement for those who had already purchased the universal transit pass.
“OC Transpo has offered Algonquin College a credit equivalent to one month of transit service per student ($54.51 based on the price of a U-Pass),” said an email sent to students from the registrar’s office.
This credit will only be given to students who purchased the U-Pass for the fall 2021 term and will be added to their student account on ACSIS.
The LRT returned to service on Nov. 12 running with a limited number of trains approved and the rest being approved throughout the rest of November.
The city says at pre-pandemic levels they required 15 trains, but with current ridership, only 11 are necessary at peak periods.
Students will not have to tap their U-pass on any OC-Transpo bus or to travel through fare gates, but as the free ridership only extends to OC-Transpo, students will continue to have to tap to get onto any Société de transport de l’Outaouais (STO) busses.