The AMS Winter 2026 Student Experience Survey found strong support for the Bus-it program, while respondents raised concerns about the transit service available to them through the program.
The survey collected 4,031 responses on a number of issues pertaining to students from March 23 to April 20. It found that 84.8 per cent of respondents highly value the Bus-it program — which gives students year-round access to Kingston Transit through a mandatory $180 student fee — and 82.8 per cent think the program is worth the cost.
According to the survey, 61.6 per cent of respondents were satisfied or very satisfied with bus frequency, 14.6 per cent were unsatisfied or very unsatisfied, and 23.8 per cent were neutral. 55.1 per cent were satisfied or very satisfied with on time performance, 16.1 per cent were unsatisfied or very unsatisfied, and 28.7 per cent were neutral.
READ MORE: Three in four students say Kingston housing is unaffordable, AMS survey finds
In an interview with The Journal, AMS Vice-President (Operations) Avery Papoulidis and Vice-President (University Affairs) Edward Sy said the program helps make transportation more affordable for students.
Sy said students would pay considerably more if they had to purchase regular Kingston Transit passes instead of accessing transit through Bus-it.
Papoulidis said that despite the value survey respondents saw in Bus-it, the AMS is open to feedback about problems students experience using transit. Sy said reliability and bus frequency were among the issues raised.
Similar concerns appeared in the City of Kingston’s 2025 Transit Service Review survey. Of the 477 respondents, 40.6 per cent said public transit was their main mode of transportation. Respondents identified wait times, frequency, and reliability as areas needing improvement. Overcrowding was commonly reported for routes serving through Queen’s and St. Lawrence College.
These concerns have become part of ongoing discussions between the AMS and Kingston Transit. Papoulidis and Sy said the AMS meets with Kingston Transit monthly and recently raised three main issues: travel between main and West Campus, late-night service, and whether transit routes are adapting to where students live.
“A lot of students’ ability to attend classes are impacted by their inability to get on the bus,” Sy said.
In an interview with The Journal, Kingston Transit Commissioner of Transportation and Infrastructure Ian Semple said buses on routes one, two, and 12 along Union Street often reach capacity during peak class times, particularly in the morning and after large classes end.
To ease overcrowding, Semple said students can use alternative routes along King and Stuart Streets.
However, these alternatives may not work for every student. Sy said the alternative West Campus stop is about 400 metres south, making it difficult for students with only 10 minutes between classes.
Semple said that students have more route options than they realize and encouraged riders to contact its customer service team for help finding alternatives.
Late-night transit was another issue AMS raised during its meeting with Kingston Transit. Sy said the AMS is still trying to understand whether students’ main concern is how often late-night buses run, where they travel to, or how late the service operates.
Papoulidis said students are increasingly living farther from campus, but transit routes have not always expanded to reflect these changes. The AMS raised this issue with Kingston Transit and said future transit planning should better reflect changing student housing patterns.
In an interview with The Journal, Mary Kim, ConEd ’29, said Bus-it makes using Kingston Transit less stressful.
“I really like it a lot,” Kim said. Not having to pay each time she boards “definitely takes a stressor off.”
However, Kim said she would prefer different payment options based on how much students expect to use transit rather than everyone paying the same fixed fee.
In an interview with The Journal, Yousef Elamarni, ArtSci ’27, said he frequently encounters late buses.
“The Kingston Transit sometimes is late, which makes me either late to class, or I need to sprint to class,” he said.
Despite owning a car, Elamarni said he still considers the $180 Bus-it fee “fairly priced.”
Tags
AMS Student Experience Survey, Bus It Fee, Bus-It
All final editorial decisions are made by the Editor(s) in Chief and/or the Managing Editor. Authors should not be contacted, targeted, or harassed under any circumstances. If you have any grievances with this article, please direct your comments to eic@queensjournal.ca.