Orange County Youths Will Get To Ride OCTA Buses For Free

SANTA ANA, CA — Youths in Orange County will no longer have to pay for a bus ride.

The Orange County Transportation Authority announced Thursday it was making its Youth Ride Free Pass permanent, allowing children between the ages of 6 and 18 to ride OCTA buses for free.

The move to make the pass permanent follows a six-month pilot period which saw youths taking 765,000 trips on an OCTA bus, the transit agency said.

It's the first time a large transit agency in the Southland has offered free rides for children on an ongoing basis, OCTA said in a statement.

Mark Murphy, OCTA chairman, said in a statement the agency's board of directors "see strong value in continuing the free fares" and hope that more youths will be able to utilize the buses because of it.

"We're happy to see so many young people in Orange County respond to the Youth Ride Free program to get to school, to work, to the library and to so many other destinations that improve their quality of life," he said.

Parents can request the pass for their children to the OCTA website, and the transit agency has worked with local school districts across the county to distribute passes to students, OCTA said. The program is estimated to cost around $2.2 million a year.

For more information about the pass or to request one, visit the OCTA website.