Pasadena Approves Plan for Students to Ride Metro Buses For Free

The City Council greenlighted participation by Pasadena Transit, the city’s public bus system, in Metro’s GoPass K-14 pilot program which could allow local students to access public transport for free from February 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023.

Students would only ride free if their respective school districts /community colleges have also joined the program. As of today, while PCC has joined, PUSD has yet to join.

The Department of Transportation’s recommendation for the city to authorize the Pasadena Transit to join the program passed via unanimous vote during the City Council meeting on Monday, January 10.

The Metro GoPass pilot program (formerly known as the Fareless System Initiative) provides fareless boardings to students at participating school districts and community colleges.

The project is forecast to reduce fare revenue by approximately $225,000 over the two year pilot period.

To offset the fare losses for participating transit agencies, participating school districts and community colleges are required to commit to a cost-sharing agreement.

Under the agreement, participating school districts are required to pay $3 per student enrolled per year, while community colleges are required to pay $7 per student enrolled per year, under the program.

During the Transportation Advisory Commission meeting last December, city principal planner Sebastián Hernández said Pasadena City College already confirmed its participation in the program.

The Pasadena Unified School District is yet to announce participation but he said conversations with the district were ongoing.

According to the data provided by the transportation department, 22 percent of bus riders when school is in session are students and about 250,000 youth rides were made annually prior to the pandemic.