"Students will not be required to tap upon boarding OC Transpo buses or trains or travelling through the faregates in December," said an email to students from the registrar's office. Photo credit: Ethan Grove

The Light Rail Transit, OC-Transpo and Para-Transpo are offering a month of free ridership throughout December.

Following the Sept. 19 derailment of the LRT, Ottawa City Council approved a motion that would give riders a free month of transit service due to the delays that came with the prolonged, 54-day repairs to the rail system.

OC-Transpo was the one planning the reimbursement for those who had already purchased the universal transit pass.

“OC Transpo has offered Algonquin College a credit equivalent to one month of transit service per student ($54.51 based on the price of a U-Pass),” said an email sent to students from the registrar’s office.

This credit will only be given to students who purchased the U-Pass for the fall 2021 term and will be added to their student account on ACSIS.

The LRT returned to service on Nov. 12 running with a limited number of trains approved and the rest being approved throughout the rest of November.

The city says at pre-pandemic levels they required 15 trains, but with current ridership, only 11 are necessary at peak periods.

Students will not have to tap their U-pass on any OC-Transpo bus or to travel through fare gates, but as the free ridership only extends to OC-Transpo, students will continue to have to tap to get onto any Société de transport de l’Outaouais (STO) busses.