STO announces free student summer bus pass will extend through the next school year 

Sophie Demers 

On May 16, Société de Transport de l’Outaouais (STO) announced the return of their summer high school student Multi-Jeunesse free bus pass for the third consecutive season. The bus pass gives Gatineau high school students unlimited free access to the STO transportation network, including the regular bus system, paratransit, and transportation on demand. New this year, the STO announced that, with some limitations, this free student bus pass will continue into the upcoming school year. 

From June 21 to September 2, the free Multi-Jeunesse student pass will work any time and any day of the week, as it has for the past two summers. During the 2024-2025 school year, from September 3 to June 30, the Multi-Jeunesse bus pass will allow high school students free access to the bus system on school days after 5 pm, as well as on weekends, holidays, and school vacations. The student Multi-Jeunesse bus pass is available to all 19,000 Gatineau high school students across the 18 high schools in the region.

“Investing in our young people is also investing in our future. By introducing them to sound travel habits at an early age, there is a good chance they will develop a taste for it, continue using the public transit system beyond high school, and put off buying their first car," says Jocelyn Blondin, president of the STO board of directors. 

Data from the previous year's free student passes indicated that the initiative is paying off. During the summer of 2023, approximately 12,000 students used their passes for an average of 16 trips per person in July and August. Youth travel using the public transit system has nearly tripled since the program was introduced. Last summer youth trips increased to 191,143 trips compared to 69,040 during the same period in 2019. 

"Our greenhouse gas reduction targets are ambitious in Gatineau, and to achieve them, we need to promote sustainable mobility and new travel habits. Our young people are already aware of this, and these are the values that drive them. With a concrete initiative like the Multi-Jeunesse card, I'm happy to see that we are giving them the means to be part of the solution," says Daniel Champagne, Mayor of Gatineau. 

The cards will be distributed through Gatineau high schools. A card will not have a student's photo on it; however, it will be associated with a student's school profile. STO states that this new no-photo card simplifies the distribution and that the card is more sustainable, as it is valid through all five years of high school. 

The STO is also offering a program that allows sixth graders to familiarize themselves with the public transit system. Elementary school students who finished their sixth-grade year can go to one of the STO’s service centres starting June 21 to get a temporary multi-card that will be valid throughout the summer until they start high school. 

“Toward the end of the school year, many of us asked, "Will the program be back this summer? I am delighted that this investment in young people is being deployed for everyone, year-round," says the co-president of the Commission jeunesse de Gatineau, Tiffany-Lee Norris-Parent. "For them, it's synonymous with freedom and autonomy, because they can go out and meet up with friends and take part in the various activities offered in Gatineau.”

Photo caption: Société de Transport de l’Outaouais (STO) announces the third summer of free bus passes for high school students as well as the program’s extension into the upcoming school year. From right to left: Jean Lessard, member of the STO board of directors, Jocelyn Blondin, President of the STO board of directors, Daniel Champagne, Mayor of Gatineau, Patrick Leclerc, STO General Director

Photo credit: Société de Transport de l’Outaouais (STO)