The Los Angeles Metro system has the highest percentage of low-income riders in the nation -and now, Metro and LAUSD are supporting those riders by providing fareless transit to TK-12 and community college students. SLATE-Z and its partners were key players in this effort, working to catalyze this incredible change. Back in 2018, SLATE-Z with its partners Move-LA, Los Angeles Promise Fund, and Metro worked together to provide low-income students in South LA with free, unlimited access to LA Metro’s countywide bus and rail services. The goals of the project were to (1) improve access to education and job opportunities. (2) reduce transportation emissions, and (3) increase transit ridership. This discrete project was a resounding success with the 11th grade class at Manuel Arts High School, where an early iteration of the pilot (formerly-named the Just Transit Student Pass Program) reduced transportation costs for the 50% of juniors relying on public transportation to get to campus.
Following the success of the South LA fareless transit pilot program in August 2020, LAUSD and Metro Board of Directors unanimously passed a proposal to scale these efforts, providing TK-12 and community college students throughout the County with unlimited Metro rides from October 2021 through June 2023 (find a list of participating districts here). This exciting expansion of the South LA pilot begins Phase 1 of Metro’s Fareless System Initiative. During this phase, students in eight school districts (and counting) will get a free TAP card that can be used on all Metro-operated transit options, and they will be able to use other municipally operated transit systems in the area for free, including those of Culver City, Norwalk, LADOT’s DASH, Montebello and Santa Monica.
Los Angeles Mayor, Eric Garcetti stressed the importance of mobility and access stating, “Access to our systems should be a right, not a privilege, and the decision to move forward with free ridership for young Angelenos is a critical step toward a system that is accessible to every rider — regardless of zip code or income level” ^1.
LAUSD officials hope that this initiative will also provide students with better access to all that Los Angeles has to offer, from museums and cultural sites to work and internship opportunities, relieving the financial barrier many LAUSD students face to achieving a more balanced life. Officials also expect this initiative to help cement fareless public transit as a mainstay for future generations of Angelenos.
The work with students is just the beginning. With 70% of Metro’s rider’s considered “low-income”, the Metro’s Fareless System Initiative sets out to support mobility for LA County residents managing the ever-rising cost of living and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. To address these needs, Phase 2 will include non-student, low-income riders, which effort is expected to start in January 2022.
LAUSD. “Los Angeles Unified School District and L.A. Metro Announce Partnership to Provide Free Transit Passes for All Los Angeles Unified Students (10-1-21).” Los Angeles Unified School District , 1 Oct. 2021, https://achieve.lausd.net/site/default.aspx?PageType=3&DomainID=4&ModuleInstanceID=4466&ViewID=6446EE88-D30C-497E-9316-3F8874B3E108&RenderLoc=0&FlexDataID=112021&PageID=1.