Free bus rides for Sacramento students pays big dividends. Don’t kill the program | Opinion

Nearly five years ago, the City of Sacramento did something remarkable. It went beyond statements like “we care about kids,” and demonstrated it truly values local youth by offering free public transit to elementary and secondary school students across the city.

So a proposal to cut funding for this program in the next city budget is not just disappointing; it is a step backward from our commitment to our school kids and our environmental responsibilities.

Since its inception in 2019, this program — known as RydeFreeRT — has more than doubled its ridership, increasing from 1.5 million rides by local youth to an anticipated 4.2 million across the entire service district this fiscal year. A staggering 75% of these rides were taken by young people within our city, translating to a mere 34 cents per ride in terms of the city’s investment — pocket change in return for transformative impacts on young lives and our community.

The benefits of RydeFreeRT extend well beyond the convenience of free rides. This program has reduced traffic congestion around schools, lessened environmental pollution and provided many young people with their only reliable means of getting to school and educational activities, as well as internships and jobs. It has also been instrumental in reducing absenteeism, increasing state funding linked to school attendance and alleviating economic pressures on families — goals that clearly align with the city’s equity goals.

Despite these unambiguous benefits, the city manager’s proposed budget has completely defunded RydeFreeRT. This is in stark contrast to our city’s ambitious 2040 General Plan and Climate Adaptation Action Plan, which aims for an 11% transit mode share by 2030.

A study by the University of Texas on the program showed a statistically significant increase in the share of students reporting they use public transit to get to and from school as well as a corresponding statistically significant decrease in the share of students reporting riding in a car.

Prior research on public transit use demonstrates that new public transit riders tend to switch from slower modes such as walking and cycling to transit. In the case of RydeFreeRT, however, students were switching from a faster mode (such as cars) to public transit. This finding demonstrates the huge potential RydeFreeRT has to create a generation of new public transit riders.

An analyses of overall ridership by our transit agency reveals that the percentage of minority and lowest-income riders is highest among youth riders. Eliminating this program would disproportionately affect these vulnerable groups, undermining our commitment to fairness and equity, and economic prosperity.

Cristo Rey High School’s Dean of Students Ryan Neach shared that public transit is a critical support.

“Our school caters to low-income families,” he said. “Our parents work late and can’t necessarily pick up their kids at a certain time. If our parents had to pay for a ticket, that would severely limit their options.”

Hunter Nousaine, an 11th grader who uses a wheelchair due to a disability, took advantage of RydeFreeRT last summer to participate in a city-run program that teaches high school students about local government and civic life. Hunter said the civic engagement program opened his eyes to possibilities for his future — and so did the fact that he was able to get there on his own thanks to RydeFreeRT.

“There were times I didn’t have a ride home, or even a penny in my pocket,” Nousaine said. “If this program didn’t exist, I wouldn’t be able to get home from school or even City Hall.”

Without RydeFreeRT, Nousaine might have missed his calling to public service.

To put this proposed cut in perspective, the $1 million needed to sustain RydeFreeRT is a small drop in a $1.6 billion city spending plan. For such a modest sum, the returns in terms of educational access, environmental benefits and community well-being are immense. RydeFreeRT is more than a transit program, it’s a lifeline for many of our city’s youth and a cornerstone of our climate response strategy.

I urge the city council and our community to stand against this short-sighted budget cut. Let’s not forsake our responsibility to our younger generation or to our environmental commitments. Continuing to fund RydeFreeRT is an investment in our city’s future, and a small price to pay for a sustainable, equitable and progressive Sacramento.