Sacramento-area kids can get free transportation. Here’s how and who qualifies
Some people say a car is the key to freedom in Sacramento. Students without access to wheels – you’re in luck.
All students in Sacramento, from transitional kindergarten through 12th grade, can ride public transit for free through the Sacramento Regional Transit District’s RydeFreeRT program.
The annual pass grants full access to city buses, light rail and on-demand shuttles. Approximately 265,000 young people in the cities of Sacramento, Citrus Heights, Elk Grove, Folsom, Rancho Cordova, plus Sacramento County, are eligible for the program. This also includes home-schooled students, foster youth and students experiencing homelessness.
How can I ride for free?
Youth can pick up their passes at a number of locations, including their school, local library, school district office or the SacRT customer service counter located at 1225 R St. in Sacramento, next to the 13th St. light rail station.
Students who don’t have a card from last year can board public transit and tell the driver that they’re on their way to pick up their new card for 2023, according to spokesperson Jessica Gonzalez.
This year’s pass became valid on June 1 and expires on June 30 next year.
When did the program start?
Now in its fourth year, RydeFreeRT originally launched in 2019 as the country’s first unrestricted, fare-free ride program, according to the regional transit agency.
In contrast to overall transit ridership rates, which plummeted across California during the pandemic and have yet to recover, student ridership in the Sacramento metro area rose from only 8% of all bus and light rail rides in 2019 to nearly 25% in the last year, according to SacRT.
A study from the University of Texas at Austin found that the program boosted use of public transit among students by about 5% and, correspondingly, decreased car use by 5%.
“This finding is in contrast to prior research showing that new transit riders tend to be pulled from slower modes such as walking and cycling and shows that the program has a potential to create a new generation of new public transit riders,” the study author reports.
Some California regional transit operators, such as Bay Area Rapid Transit, have raised concerns about a looming “fiscal cliff” as federal COVID-era relief money runs out. But Gonzalez said SacRT has a different funding structure than agencies like BART, which relies heavily on passenger fares, and the RydeFreeRT program would not be affected by state budget decisions.
The free ride program’s annual budget amounts to nearly $1.6 million, with funding coming from each of the cities within SacRT’s service area, as well as the county and a number of school districts. The city of Sacramento is the largest funder, contributing $1 million annually.
