DASH to Class: DASH bus rides are free for all Student Reduced Fare TAP card holders this school year

A map of the DASH system. To see individual routes, click above.

DASH to class! L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti announced earlier this year that LADOT will be offering free DASH bus rides for all Los Angeles Unified School District and Los Angeles Community College District students during the upcoming 2018-19 school year, as well as all Student/College/Vocational Reduced Fare TAP card holders.

Here’s how to hop on board:

  • Apply for a Student or College/Vocational Reduced Fare TAP card. You can submit an application online at taptogo.net/reduced_fare, mail in a print application to the TAP Reduced Fare Office or visit one of Metro’s four Customer Service Centers. Your Student or College/Vocational Reduced Fare TAP card will be mailed to you.
  • Copies of the print application will be distributed to LAUSD students during the first few weeks of school.
  • If you already have a Student or College/Vocational Reduced Fare TAP card, you can start riding for free at the beginning of the school year. No additional applications required!
With a Student or College/Vocational Reduced Fare TAP Card, students can ride all DASH buses for free…but that’s not all! Here are the other types of reduced fare passes or discounted ride fares you’ll be able to load on your card.

Show us how you DASH to Class by using #DASHtoClass and tagging @ladottransit on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter. ???

5 replies

  1. Ugh… DASH. Talk about a bus service that’s out of touch. I guess making the service free is the only way they’ll get riders right now, because how do they normally expect people to want to use the service with many of their key routes having headways of 25 to 30 minutes?! That’s absolutely insane for a local circulator type route, particularly in a dense area like Hollywood. What are they thinking?! This is why people don’t take buses seriously. Nobody wants to wait that long just to go a few miles. It’s run by LADOT so I guess it’s consistent with the rest of their treatment of public transit, like not giving signal priority to trains and buses. C’mon! Get it together! Price isn’t the problem. Its service quality…

  2. Probably not a huge deal, but is there a date that this officially starts? Some private schools start this week. LAUSD doesn’t start until late August.