Long Beach City College students are now eligible for free rides with LA Metro and Long Beach Transit after the school announced a new partnership with the transportation systems on March 10.
GoPasses, a fareless pass program for several participating LA County schools, will now be offered at LBCC.
The GoPass allows students to ride on any of the LA Metro’s rails, as well as any of its participating bus systems without any cost.
“For us, it was exciting to be able to partner with LA Metro GoPass because that effectively extended the way in which our students could use transportation,” Sonia De La Torre-Iniguez, LBCC associate dean said.
Students who would normally use the LA Metro or Long Beach Transit as modes of transportation could now potentially save hundreds of dollars in fares.
The only requirement to obtain a GoPass is that the student must currently be enrolled in at least one course at LBCC.
“With the GoPass, all students need is to be enrolled in just one unit. That’s it,” Justin Mendez, manager of LBCC’s basic needs program, said.
The school recognizes that transportation can be difficult for many students, especially for those who have long commutes or don’t have access to a car.
That being the case, many have already taken advantage of the offer.
“We have mailed out a total of 1,237 passes as of today,” Mendez said.
While the GoPass is mainly intended for students commuting to school, it can also be used “to get to the grocery store, to visit family, or just to sort of be mobile outside of being a student,” De La Torre-Iniguez said.
De La Torre-Iniguez believes that the more responsive the school is to attending to the basic needs of students, the more likely they are to succeed.
“By getting students connected to the above and beyond support, I think students will be better positioned to very affirmatively make the decision, ‘I’m going to attend college’,” De La Torre-Iniguez said.
For more information on how to get a GoPass, click here.