Article: End of the line on cheap fares for Melbourne Uni pioneers

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From the Melbourne Age click here!

End of the line on cheap fares for Melbourne Uni pioneers

End of the line on cheap fares for Melbourne Uni pioneers
Jason Dowling
March 2, 2011

HUNDREDS of Melbourne University students are ineligible for concession fares on public transport because of the new ''Melbourne Model'' at the university and the cards not being available to postgraduate students.

Many Melbourne University students have recently completed undergraduate degrees as required by the Melbourne Model and are beginning speciality degrees in courses such as law and medicine.

These courses are now defined as postgraduate study at the university, making the full-time students ineligible for student concession cards and forced to pay double their previous public transport costs.

Students at other universities undertaking these courses as undergraduate degrees qualify for the concession cards.

Melbourne University is now calling on the state government to extend the availability of public transport concession cards to all full-time tertiary students.

''The higher education landscape in Victoria has changed significantly over recent years, with a greater focus now on graduate-level study. The university will work with the new state government to achieve an equitable outcome for all higher education students,'' a university spokesman said.

Lewis Cohen, a law student at the university, said the cost of his weekly travel card had doubled. ''A lot of other people are in the same position as me.''

Mr Cohen, who this month began his three-year postgraduate law degree, must now pay the full fare price of $29.40 for his weekly travel card.

''It's a lot of money for a student'' he said.

He said full-time postgraduate students should be eligible for concession cards - a view shared by the Public Transport Users Association.

Association president Daniel Bowen said: ''If someone is studying full time, it does make sense to make concession fares available to them. You shouldn't expect full-time students to be paying full-price public transport fares, it will encourage fare evasion and driving,'' he said.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Transport said: ''While postgraduate students in Victoria are generally not eligible for a Victorian Public Transport Student Concession Card, many students undertaking postgraduate studies may be eligible for a Commonwealth Health Care Card, ensuring that postgraduate students in genuine financial need can still access discounted public transport fares.''