Not all Winnipeg students will get their free bus pass the first week of school. The province set aside $10 million in this year’s budget to offer free transit for students ages 11 and up in a number of cities, including Winnipeg. That will save George Lister hundreds of dollars this school year, as he has 12-year-old triplets. “This makes it absolutely perfect for families like me that don’t need it full-time but still need it really badly when we do,” said Lister. But the father of the grade seven students said he’s in the dark on where and when the passes will be available. “The details have not exactly been well promoted and honestly, I haven’t been able to find much on the details.” Last week Premier Wab Kinew said the pilot project for grades 7 to 12 will be done in phases. Winnipeg School Division Superintendent Matt Henderson said schools in the city will be making paper bus passes available. The plan is to see grade 11 and 12 students get them the week of Sept. 9. Grade 9 and 10 will have them the week of September 21, and then grades 7 and 8 the following week. There will be exceptions. “Tec Voc, Argyle, Children of the Earth, and RB Russell, where learners come from all over the division, all of those students will be able to receive their bus passes on Sept. 9,” said Henderson. The staggered approach is being done to help schools and Winnipeg Transit manage the rollout of the program while assessing the demands this will place on the system during an already busy time of the year. Public Works Committee Chair Janice Lukes is skeptical. “We don’t have enough buses,” said Lukes. “It will handle it in non-peak periods, where I am very worried about peak periods.” The city has warned the provincial funding is not enough and could run out by March. In June, transit said it planned on capping the number of passes available at 30,000, based on 50 per cent uptake. “I personally think it’s a recipe for disaster,” said Lukes. “I hope I’m wrong.” But Winnipeg Transit tells CTV News it does not expect demand to exceed pass supply and says passes will be valid for a full year, from September 2026 to August 2027. The school divisions and transit are also set to release more information before the end of the month for parents.
