This year, students can expect improvements to the Bus-It program, allowing for later night routes and a tap card feature.
The Bus-It program is an Alma Mater Society (AMS) contract with Kingston Transit, allowing students an unlimited bus pass—funded through a mandatory ancillary fee. The contract’s renewed every three years, with scheduled price raises each year. Students then vote on whether to keep the fee as mandatory based on the increases.
Students approved in a March 12–13 referendum raising the mandatory fee from $122 to $165 for 2025–26, with further increases to $180 in 2026–27 and $195 in 2027–28. The hike is steeper than in past years, with a 36 per cent jump this year from contract renegotiation and another 10 per cent over the next two years.
AMS Vice President (Operations) Elena Nurzynski explained in an interview with The Journal that the pass remains more affordable than buying individual passes.
“It’s the most affordable option for students, and students can save up to over $500 a year compared to if they were to get like an annual pass straight from the City of Kingston.”
As of now, the standard youth pass for ages 15 to 24 costs $61.75 a month, or about $741 a year, according to the City’s website.
Alongside fee increases, the new contract’s expected to include phased integration of tap cards in addition to expanded service routes and longer hours.
Nurzynski explained that tap integration is being introduced for first-year students, who will be able to tap their student cards to board buses. Upper-year students will continue using the current validation sticker system until the tap system is expanded. The AMS plans to phase in tap cards for upper-year students based on student feedback; therefore, all students could be seeing tap cards in the coming years.
Aside from the price increase and tap implementation, Nurzynski confirmed expanded routes to accommodate students living farther from campus will be implemented. According to the City of Kingston’s service update, fall changes include a new N1 overnight route running midnight to 3:00 a.m. that links Cataraqui Centre to First Canada, which includes a stop at Queen’s along the way, as well as increased service for the Express 501/502 and Express 701/702.
The current contract secures Bus-It until the end of the 2027–28 academic year, when the fee will return to referendum.
Tags
AMS, Bus It Fee, Bus-It, fee referendum, Vice President (Operations)
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