School Board Takes Aim at Bus Passes

To give children better access to public transportation, the Los Angeles school board voted unanimously on Tuesday to help streamline the process for buying student discount passes.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s application requirement is too cumbersome for children and parents, said board member Genethia Hudley-Hayes. “We should be making that as easy a process as possible.”

Her motion, which board President Caprice Young praised as being long overdue, directs school officials to work with the MTA to develop a plan in the next 90 days to streamline the student transit pass application process.

To qualify for a $20 monthly pass, students must submit an application with a small photo, verification from their school and a $1 processing fee. They then receive an annual pass in the mail, which they must activate by buying a $20 stamp every month. A student must re-apply every year.

“We have to make sure they’re legitimate students,” said MTA spokesman Marc Littman. He said the MTA’s new automated system sends passes 20 days after receipt of an application.

But members of the Bus Riders Union said they have known instances in which students waited months for their passes. Littman said the problem could be caused by delays from schools in forwarding applications to the MTA.