Back to School: Free Rides To Require Tap Card or App
Area public and private school students in grades
Kindergarten through 12th grade have until Oct. 31, 2021, to get a tap card or
the new Umo Mobility app to continue riding for free aboard Lane Transit
District (LTD) buses.
“The tap card and the new Umo Mobility app are available
for free at local schools. Both can be loaded with the necessary bus pass to
provide free fare for students,” said Cammie Harris, an LTD marketing representative
who coordinates the Student Transit Pass program with private schools and
public school districts. “The Student Transit Pass is aimed to assist families
with transportation costs and help students access extracurricular activities,
work, and school.”
Once loaded with “free fare,” the free bus pass is
good from Sept. 1, 2021, until Sept. 30, 2022. The Rhody Express in Florence,
Cottage Grove Connector, and the Diamond Express to Oakridge are excluded from
the Student Transit Pass program.
“The tap card and app allow LTD to track how many
students use the free bus pass, so the District can report back to state
grantmakers that the service is needed, used, and embraced by the community,”
Harris said. “LTD’s free student bus pass program supplements school bus
service already provided to many students by the area’s public school
districts.”
Until they have the tap card or app, young people
should inform the bus operator they are students to continue riding the bus for
free through the end of October. More information about the Student Transit
Pass is here.
Free student transit fares are made available
through a grant to LTD from the state of Oregon’s Statewide Transportation
Improvement Fund (STIF) approved through House Bill 2017.