MCAT to Offer Free Service to Ringling, New College Students, Faculty

Bradenton, FL – Starting soon, everyone who attends Ringling College of Art & Design and New College of Florida will be given a free ride.

Beginning Aug. 1, the Universal Pass Program will allow students, faculty and staff of the two schools to ride Manatee County Area Transit and Sarasota County Area Transit for free when they present a valid college identification card.

The program looks to allow access for both employment and educational opportunities and both schools, promote economic development, expedite the boarding process and increase ridership on public transportation services, said MCAT manager Bill Steele.

Officials from Manatee County, Sarasota County and the two schools have worked to establish agreements that allow each institution to pay an annual, pre-paid fee instead of collecting individual fares when passengers board the bus.

“The U-Pass Program agreements really show the continuing effort of public transit agencies to build strong community partnerships to benefit residents and visitors of both Manatee and Sarasota,” Steele said. “Strong collaborative efforts between MCAT and SCAT benefit not only the individual transit agencies, but also the Sarasota-Manatee region as well.”

The two counties developed the area’s first U-Pass agreement with the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee and rolled out the program with the start of spring semester classes in January.

Passengers in both Sarasota and Manatee counties will benefit from the jointly operated transit services along U.S. Highway 41 with MCAT and SCAT serving the three major schools with U-Pass, Steele said. With the existing inter-county transit services between the two counties, and the new Skyway ConneXion service by MCAT for travel between manatee and Pinellas counties, the larger Tampa Bay region will see significant economic development and regional travel benefits for both area residents and visitors, he said.

For more information on the U-Pass Program, call MCAT at (941) 747-8621 or SCAT at (941) 861-5000.

Images courtesy of Manatee County Area Transit and via Sarasota County Area Transit Facebook page

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