UPASS

Universal Bus Pass (UPASS, Sometimes U-PASS) is an arrangement between the Grand River Transit Authority and the Federation of Students. It allows for the WatCards of undergraduate students to be used as bus passes for unlimited use of GRT's services.

History
The idea of merging a bus pass with the WatCard was proposed in 1996, when a proposal was made to make the WatCard a Kitchener Transit bus pass. After a "lively meeting" on July 7, the proposal from Kitchener Transit "wasn't worked out in enough detail", and the proposal was rejected.

As a result of voting on the 23-24 March 2007, undergraduate students approved a fee to be collected that would allow for WatCards to be used as GRT bus passes. The question of the referendum was as follows:

"Do you support a Universal Bus Pass (U-Pass) at a cost of $41.08, plus an administration cost of not more than $9.50, subject to increases due to inflation and student demand, to be paid by each full-time undergraduate student per academic term, scheduled for implementation in September 2007, and which will be reviewed in three years?"

Cost
The fee collected from undergraduate students has been raised several times since its introduction in 2007.