Youth between the ages of 6 and 18 will be able to ride Orange County’s bus system for free on a permanent basis, following a unanimous vote earlier this week by the Orange County Transportation Authority Board of Directors.
OCTA launched the program in September of 2021. Since then, there have been more than 680,000 bus boardings under the program, which has been paid for with funds allocated under the State of California’s Low Carbon Transit Operations Program. The program is projected to cost $2.2 million annually; OCTA will look for funding options each year.
OCTA hopes that by allowing youth to ride the county’s bus system for free, it will cultivate greater willingness on their part to use public transit to get around Orange County. The agency says the youth demographics share of bus boardings increased from 2-3% prior to the pandemic to 10% at the present time.
“Our proposal overall, at this point, is to add it to the fare policy program on a permanent basis,” OCTA CEO Darrell Johnson informed the Board of Directors at its February 14 meeting.
“We’re proud to be the first large public transit agency in the region to offer free rides to youth 6 to 18 on an ongoing basis,” said OCTA spokesman Eric Carpenter. “There has been great response to the program the first six months from young riders, from their parents and from school officials and there’s a lot of excitement about being able to continue to offer free fares so students can get to school, to after-school activities and many more places across the county.”
“When more people ride public transit, the whole community benefits,” said Carpenter.
For more information on the Youth Ride Free program, click here.
