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Municipal Services Committee Votes in Support of Fareless Metro

Published on Monday, December 20, 2021 | 11:09 am
 

The City Council’s Municipal Services Committee unanimously voted to recommend the City Council support an initiative that would allow local students in the Pasadena Unified School District and Pasadena City College to ride Metro buses for free under a pilot program that will last through Dec. 31, 2022.

The GoPass program, formerly known as the Fareless System Initiative (FSI), went into effect on Dec. 1.

“I’m very glad we’re doing it,” said Councilmember Felicia Williams, who sits on the committee. “It’s a great program and it will help our kids a lot.”

GoPass provides the fareless boardings for K-12 students and community college students attending participating school districts and private schools for two school years. In order for students to board fareless, the school district or college they are attending must also participate in the program.

“A recent study completed by the Hope Center found that students spend a fifth of their total living expenses on transportation, and this is especially true for community college students who almost exclusively commute to campus,” Metro CEO Stephanie Wiggins told City News Service earlier this month.

“It is clear that students with subsidized transportation perform better at school, allowing them to focus on what really matters: their education. We created the GoPass program because we do not want transportation to be one of the barriers students must face in completing their college education.”

The GoPass pilot project is expected to reduce Pasadena Transit fare revenue by $225,000 over the two-year pilot period. Pasadena would be made partially whole by receiving a proportional amount of the cost-sharing revenues provided by participating school districts and colleges and by one-time Metro supplemental funding.

The LA Community College District has already enrolled in the program.

There are 33 school districts and six community colleges interested in joining the GoPass program, according to a city staff report.

A cost sharing agreement has been developed for participating K-12 districts that includes a $3.00 cost-sharing rate per student per year for all students in the participating school district. Participating community colleges must commit to a $7.00 cost-sharing rate per student per year for all students enrolled at the participating community college.

Metro staff has entered into conversations with the Pasadena Unified School District (PUSD) to solicit participation in the program. The city has also reached out to the school district to encourage participation.

City officials have also provided Metro with a list of private high schools within .25 mile of Pasadena Transit and Metro and their respective contacts.

So far Metro has not heard from representatives from the private schools.

“I hope this is widely successful,” said Vice Mayor Andy Wilson.

The recommended term of the pilot program for Pasadena Transit is to initiate it no later than February 1, 2022 and continue it through June 30, 2023.

The item will now to go the City Council.

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One thought on “Municipal Services Committee Votes in Support of Fareless Metro

  • News Flash! I ride the Gold, Red and Purple metro rail often. I am use Lake Station and most people don’t pay now. I constantly see riders just squeeze through the turnstiles or just reach over the metal gate to access the platform. It’s not like anyone checks fared on the trains or platforms. Nothing new here. It’s already free for anyone who wants to cheat with no accountability.

 

 

 

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