The Stanislaus Regional Transit Authority (StanRTA) has been awarded California’s Low Carbon Transit Operations Program (LCTOP) 1000th project to fund its Free Fare Project in 2023. The project includes free fares during Go Green Week in March, Earth Day in April, Dump the Pump Day in June, and Free Rides July.
For several years now, StanRTA has offered free-ride days, weeks, and months as a way to promote public transportation services. This allows potential new riders a chance to try the service at no risk. It also allows current users to increase reliance on The S.
“The StanRTA Board considers these promotions some of the best investments they’ve ever made when it comes to marketing, increasing ridership, and increasing awareness about public transit service,” said Adam Barth, StanRTA CEO. “Our theory is that if people don’t try it, how will they know if it works for them?”
Through the Free Fares Project, StanRTA provides free, safe, and reliable transportation services for residents to travel to educational institutions, employment centers, medical offices, grocery stores, and shopping malls. Transit fares are often a barrier to residents in disadvantaged communities, which includes Stanislaus County, but with the support from LCTOP, the Free Fares Project has made it possible for riders to use public transportation without any financial hardship. The project includes 26 urban bus routes, commuter services, Medivan, and complementary paratransit services.
LCTOP is one of several programs that are part of the Transit, Affordable Housing, and Sustainable Communities Program established by the California Legislature in 2014 by Senate Bill 862. The LCTOP was created to provide operating and capital assistance for transit agencies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve mobility, with a priority on serving disadvantaged communities. Senate Bill 862 continuously appropriates five percent of the annual auction proceeds in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund for LCTOP, beginning in 2015-16.
StanRTA’s Free Fares Project has improved access to public transportation across Stanislaus County and has improved air quality and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by reducing vehicle miles traveled. The benefits of this project have been critical to the success of the LCTOP and its continuing support for projects alike. Without the support of LCTOP, the Free Fares Project would not be possible.
StanRTA was formed in 2021 through the consolidation of Modesto Area Express and Stanislaus Regional Transit and is the provider of local and regional public transit in Stanislaus County. StanRTA operates fixed-route, demand-response, and commuter services. For more information, visit www.stanrta.org or call 209-527-4900.
