Pico Rivera : La Merced Students Can Get Monthly Bus Pass Subsidy
City officials have decided to help pay bus fares for about 190 students who live in Pico Rivera and ride public buses to get home from La Merced Intermediate School in Montebello. The City Council will spend $3,000 to subsidize monthly bus passes, reducing the cost from $8 to $3.
The Montebello Unified School District, which operates the middle school, provides bus service for students to the school in the morning. But because of budget cuts, the school board last year eliminated bus service in the afternoon, forcing many students to use Montebello Bus Lines to get home. It particularly affects children living in the neighborhood of Montebello Gardens Elementary School in Pico Rivera, across the Rio Hondo from the La Merced campus at 215 E. Avenida de la Merced.
Passes will be sold beginning Monday at Pico Rivera City Hall, 6615 Passons Blvd. To buy a pass for the Montebello Bus Lines, students must provide proof of residency or where they go to school.
The passes also will be available to students who attend other public schools or who are enrolled at private schools around the city.
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