Speaking at the Otago Regional Council hearings committee for a proposed change to the Regional Passenger Transport Plan in Dunedin yesterday, Otago University Students Association (OUSA) representative Gayaal Iddamalgoda said a flexible and comprehensive transport system was invaluable for students.
He said the single biggest deterrent for students using the Dunedin bus system was cost. About 20% of students lived outside the campus zone, but the majority of them used private transport. Parking had become a problem in recent years.
The association was proposing students be charged a flat fee at the start of the year, which would entitle them to use the bus system for free throughout the academic year.
He suggested a levy of $35 for each year of enrolment, and the bus system would receive an injection of about $700,000, based on 20,000 students.
Students who never used buses would not mind paying the new levy, he said. He did not know the amount of money students spent on buses and said the OUSA had not approached university or polytechnic authorities about the levy proposal.