Transportation advocates urged the Montgomery County Council on Tuesday to expand the Ride On bus system’s “kids ride free program” for students to seven days a week.
Council member Evan Glass, a frequent user of public transit, proposed the idea, estimating initially that the expansion would add $1 million to the budget annually.
“Access to reliable transportation is spread unevenly across Montgomery County. Our lowest income areas have nearly double the number of carless households than our higher income area,” Glass wrote in to County Executive Marc Elrich.
Ride On and some Metrobus routes current allow students under the age of 18 to ride buses for free between 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. on weekdays.
Victoria Koretsky, a freshman at Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville and a member of the county’s Commission on Children and Youth, said expanding the service would help “reduce the opportunity gap” for low-income students. A survey the commission conducted found that 65 percent of student eligible for free and reduced meals answered that they would take advantage of the expanded free hours.
“Lots of students rely on public transportation and would use it if were free,” she said.
Jacob Newman, the managing director of Montgomery County’s Latin American Youth Center, said some students he works with are low-income residents between the ages of 18 and 24. Many, he said, live along major transit arteries such as Georgia Avenue and Veirs Mill Road, and could benefit from increased free hours, but are not currently eligible.
“The program expansion would not currently cover those students, but would hopefully be able to benefit all [students]” he said.
Tina Slater, the Montgomery County transportation chair of the Maryland Sierra Club, said an expansion of the free hours would be important in order to introduce more students to the public bus system while also helping them accomplish the goal of becoming more independent without a car.
“Being able to go across town and hang out with friends is a ticket to independence,” she said.
Council member Hans Riemer said he wants to see free service all the time, but he isn’t sure how it will be funded.
“That’ll be the question,” he said.
According to Maureen McNulty, a spokeswoman with the Montgomery County Department of Transportation, the cost projections are based on anticipated lost fare revenue from Ride On, based on daily farebox collection, as well as a fee paid to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority for lost fare revenue on Metrobuses.
Riemer said the estimate for the cost of the proposed expansion was approximate due to the unpredictable consumer behavior of student riders.
“It’s hard to know if those are fares that wouldn’t be collected, or if these kids wouldn’t be riding the bus otherwise,” he said.
Dan Schere can be reached at Daniel.schere@moco360.media
