Sophia Young joined Alberta's Top 30 Under 30 at Edmonton's Newcomer Centre for the Youth Leading Change panel on March 27. The conversation touched on resilience, patience, and the power of storytelling, but what stayed with her wasn't what the panelists said. It was what she saw in the room.

Sophia Young received Alberta's Top 30 Under 30 Award in February 2026 — but the recognition belongs to every community, mentor, and young person who made this movement what it is.

Over 50 student projects. 10 industry leaders. One clear takeaway: youth are already building the cities we talk about. Here's what Connect 2026 showed us about transit, design, and what's possible when we invest in young people.

At the University of Alberta, students aren't just studying community design — they're doing it. Civil Connect's award-winning projects show what happens when youth are trusted to build, not just advise.

Across Canada, more communities are asking an important question: When we talk about youth transit, what are we really talking about? At its core, youth transit is not just about free fares or discounted passes. It is about intentional investment in young people so they can experience, understand, and grow with public transit as part of everyday life.

In November 2025, I had the privilege of joining a webinar hosted by Queen’s University through the Certificate in Professional Impact Analysis (CPIA) program. Dr. Bahman Kashi and I discussed the impact of investing in youth access to transit and the need to rigorously measure what truly works.

For me, this session was especially meaningful because it highlighted something we don’t always see in community initiatives: a thoroughly completed cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness analysis, in this case of youth transit access in Kingston.

As discussions continue around provincial funding for Halifax’s Student Transit Pass program, national youth mobility initiative Get on the Bus is encouraging community members, educators, youth organizations, and families to share their experiences and support continued investment in youth transit.

The Halifax program currently provides more than 30,000 students in grades 7 to 12 with access to public transit across the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM). Since launching as a pilot and expanding in recent years, the program has helped thousands of young people travel to school, part-time jobs, extracurricular activities, and community spaces throughout the HRM.

I grew up in a small town about 15 minutes outside of Brockville where transit was nonexistent – not even a thought in the minds of most kids. To get around, you took your bike, went by foot.

Washington has taken a bold and commendable step by making transit free for everyone 18 and under. Policies like this are very impactful. They remove financial barriers, create equitable access, and signal to young people that they belong in public spaces. But as Natalie articulated so clearly, fare-free access alone isn’t enough. When youth ridership increases, especially among first-time riders, the system has a responsibility to meet them with preparation, trust, and education.