Welcome, Sophia!

Get on the Bus is thrilled to welcome Sophia Young as our Edmonton Consultant. Sophia became a public transit advocate after facing transportation barriers in her youth. At the age of 15, she helped direct a successful fare-free transit campaign for youth thirteen and under in her hometown of Regina, Saskatchewan. Sophia remains passionate about transit access and we are delighted that she has joined our team to help us build capacity and community for the youth transit movement in Edmonton, Alberta. 

Sophia was 14 when she took her first solo ride on a public bus. This trip opened up a whole new world for Sophia, “Being able to show [my mom] I could ride the bus by myself gave me the independence to explore my community,” she shared.

It is this independence that Sophia hopes to bring to more youth through her transit advocacy. “Access to transit is access to opportunity,” says Sophia, “Giving youth a bus pass allows them to move, explore, and discover who they are”. 

Sophia’s own experiences, and those of her friends, highlighted how opportunities, dreams, and even friendships, can be hindered by transportation barriers. It is this firsthand experience that has made Sophia so deeply passionate about the role free youth transit can play in providing equity to youth in communities.

Sophia is attending the University of Alberta to pursue a degree in environmental engineering. Even with a busy academic and advocacy schedule, Sophia still makes time for her hobbies, including gardening, skiing and art. Her work has been shown in the Mackenzie and Dunlop art galleries and she has also received an award from the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation.