Student outraged at bus ticket price difference

A Christ Church student has expressed her outrage after finding out that an annual bus pass costs her over twice as much than students from the University of Kent.

Deciding to commute to Canterbury to study, the undergraduate was shocked to see that buses UKC students were half the price of CCCU’s.

Travelling the same route, a Stagecoach annual student rider pass will cost Christ Church students a whopping £525.

But if you are a student at UKC, you will only be charged £255.

The difference in price

CCCU student Chelsea Lee told Unified: “I was shocked and disappointed when I found out.

“I didn’t know why it was twice the price and it just seemed really unfair.

“I thought the university would strive to make it as easy as possible for students to be able to ‘attend, achieve and attain’ as they so proudly display on their lanyards.

“Surely attendance is priority for them and travel is a big issue with a lot of students who don’t have a lot of money.

“I’ve struggled to get into to uni before precisely because of travel reasons. I’ve panicked wondering how I’m going to be able to get in.”

The difference between choosing CCCU and another university

Chelsea also told Unified that she thought that the price difference might sway future students’ decision when choosing universities.

The student said: “If Kent university offer the same course and travel is half the price I think that could sway some people’s decisions.

“CCCU should definitely subsidise like Kent university do. Especially if students are looking into the travel before they choose which university they are going to.”

University Response

A spokesperson from the university said: “Due to being a city centre campus we do not have a high volume of students requiring to use the bus services to travel in and out of the city.

“The more students that use the service, the better the rates we are able to negotiate with Stagecoach.

“The University currently subsidises 20% of the cost of the annual bus pass. Stagecoach also offers a 20% discount for specific tickets to Christ Church students, therefore making most tickets subsidised by 40%.

“Over recent years the University has worked hard to negotiate better discounts with Stagecoach for our students and has been able to substantially reduce the cost. Two years ago the annual pass cost students about £850, compared to the current cost of about £525.

“We will continue to work with Stagecoach to ensure that our students are given the best possible prices.

 

One thought on “Student outraged at bus ticket price difference

  • 11/07/2020 at 12:03 pm
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    If you attend University of creative arts in Canterbury. The robbing bastards charge £780 for a student pass. You think you’ve got it bad. Why are they not standard prices for students

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