The FAÉCUM welcomes Marcel Côté's proposal to introduce universal student transit fares.

MONTREAL, Aug. 19, 2013 /CNW Telbec/ - The Fédération des associations étudiantes du campus de l'Université de Montréal (FAÉCUM) is delighted with the announcement made by Marcel Côté, mayoral candidate for the Coalition pour Montréal, confirming that his administration will make student transit fares accessible to all students, whereas they are currently restricted to those aged 25 or less. This measure will promote greater use of mass transit, a habit that people will hold onto even after they finish their studies. It will also put an end to a policy that doubled mass transit fares for an arbitrary reason, rather than a change of status.

With this in mind, the FAÉCUM has been campaigning for more than a decade for student transit fares to be applied universally. It hopes that all the Montreal mayoral candidates will recognize the student component of the city's population and put students' concerns front and centre, especially those relating to the abolition of the age limit on student bus fares. "With its 4 universities, 12 cegeps and 11 private colleges, the student presence in Montreal is an undeniable reality," asserts Tiago Silva, Secretary General of the Fédération. "It is high time that the arbitrary and discriminatory criterion of age be abolished from the Société de transport de Montréal's student fares." Finally, the FAÉCUM reaffirms that it will be very active during the municipal elections, and that it will pay close attention to the various parties' initiatives, in particular those relating to mass transit, bike paths, student housing, the involvement of youth in the City's decision-making forums and socio-economic issues affecting the student population.

For over 35 years, the Fédération des associations étudiantes du campus de l'Université de Montréal (FAÉCUM) has been defending and promoting students' rights and their academic, political, social and economic interests. Consisting of 80 student associations representing 39,000 members, the FAÉCUM is the largest student campus association in Québec.

SOURCE: Fédération des associations étudiantes du campus de l'Université de Montréal

Alexandre Ducharme, press agent, FAÉCUM, cell: 514 497-2602