Thanks to a group of intrepid UNBC students, Prince George will offer free transit for the duration of the Canada Winter Games in February.
To pay for lost ticket revenue, the students raised over $37,000 with donations coming from almost 40 groups. The “Pave the Way” campaign was also supported by a bottle drive.
“Being a sort of grass roots thing that this is, we don’t have huge posters or anything we can put up.” Environmental engineering graduate Eryn Beddoes says “It was about encouraging people to support a student initiative, a social initiative and something that makes them feel good.”
She added that the campaign snowballed after receiving media coverage, but it was a struggle at first.
“Donor fatigue is a big one. There is a lot happening for the games, there is a few businesses that we went to and they said ‘we are already supporting the games’. We were saying ‘this isn’t the games though’, it’s at the same time as the games but it’s a student initiative and a UNBC thing.”
She went on to say that she hopes the free riders stick with it after the games end, causing public transit to grow further in the city.