Youth Opportunity Passes: Local Beginnings, Region-Wide Impact

Youth Opportunity Passes were a HUGE win this past year!

The dream of free transit for youth began decades ago right here in City Heights, and that longterm effort finally came to fruition this year. Youth Opportunity Passes (YoP) are free transit passes for youth 18 years old and under, and the benefits of this program are already being felt.

Advocacy efforts like this remind us that important justice work often takes time. We stand on the shoulders of folks who came before; they dreamed, debated, and spoke up on behalf of community believing it would matter, and now we celebrate those persistent voices as a new generation of transit riders is born. As Jesse Ramirez, our Community Engagement Manager, put it: “Youth riding transit for free will allow a whole generation of young people to see transit as vital and valuable. Since the YoP program began, we’ve already seen over 90% increase in youth transit ridership!”

Thanks to all the residents and partner organizations who helped make Youth Opportunity Passes possible!