As the new school year begins, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) encourages students, families and school districts to participate in its GoPass pilot program, which allows students in K-12 and community college unlimited free rides on Metro bus and rail.
The program, renewed by Metro’s board in April for a third year, currently has 274,915 registered students using GoPass for travel to school and work, and has helped Metro grow its student ridership by 43 percent over pre-pandemic levels.
All schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) will offer GoPass to their students this school year, with activation codes available through the LAUSD student portal. The Torrance Unified School District is joining the program this fall.
“We are excited to bring back the successful and popular GoPass pilot program and make it available again for a third year to even more K-12 and community college students. I look forward to seeing how we can continue this program further,” said Los Angeles Mayor and Metro Board Chair Karen Bass. “Thank you to Metro and CEO Stephanie Wiggins for recognizing how important fareless transit is for our students and helping ensure that cost never stands in the way of getting to school.”
Metro’s GoPass pilot is available to all students whose school district has registered with the program. Participating schools distribute TAP cards and activation codes so students can ride transit to school, extracurricular activities or work without the worry of paying fares. Students can activate their cards on the online GoPass portal or by calling 866.TAPTOGO. They also have the option of using a virtual TAP card on the TAP LA App.
Entering year three of the pilot program, Metro shared that 102 school districts and charter networks, with a combined 1,441 schools, are participating in the program. There have been more than 22 million boardings since the program launched in October 2021.
“The GoPass pilot has helped hundreds of thousands of LA County students get to school, work and extracurricular activities, while also reducing family expenses,” said Metro CEO Stephanie Wiggins. “GoPass is central to our strategy to build transit ridership by introducing young people to the benefits of using transit long before they drive. We look forward to welcoming even more students onto our system in the coming school year.”
GoPass participants can take unlimited free rides on Metro bus and rail, AVTA (beginning September 2023), City of Commerce Transit, Culver CityBus, Foothill Transit, Glendale Beeline, GTrans, LADOT DASH, LA County Shuttles, Long Beach Transit, Lynwood Trolley, Montebello Bus, Norwalk Transit, Pasadena Transit, Santa Monica Big Blue Bus and Torrance Transit.
For more information on the Metro GoPass program visit: Metro.net/GoPass.