SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sacramento Regional Transit will begin offering free rides to K-12 students who are living in or attending a school in Sacramento starting in October for a year. Students who are homeless or in foster care will also benefit from free transit.
Eligible students will receive a sticker to indicate a one-year pass on their student identification cards at the start of the school year. The pass will allow students to ride the bus and the light rail any time service is available.
Allison Joe, who is the chief of staff to Councilmember Jay Schenirer, said the reason behind offering students free transit fare comes from viewing the lack of transportation as one of the causes for student absenteeism.
Sacramento will use $1 million from the general fund to pay for the fare.
Researchers at the University of Texas, Austin agreed to survey how free bus fare will affect the lives of students. The survey will cover school attendance, engagement in out-of-school activities, participation in work-based learning and how students view SacRT.
The evaluation will be one of the influencing factors on whether or not Sacramento will continue this program next year, Joe said.
The survey will cost around $80,000. Sacramento estimates student ridership will be 40,000, an increase of 600%.
SacRT is offering students a three-month pass this summer from June to August for $30.
SacRT is also offering jobs that will pay workers $15 to interact with the public. SacRT is seeking to educate people about SacRT Forward, which is a redesign of the current bus network.
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