The new school year is upon us — and it’s a good time to remind everyone that Metro’s GoPass Pilot Program is offering free rides to L.A. County students at participating K-12 schools and community colleges.

All students need is a registered GoPass TAP card to ride Metro and buses from 12 other transit agencies in L.A. County for free. To be clear: a GoPass allows students to ride free at all times — whether going to school, work or somewhere fun on the weekend.

We launched the GoPass last year and there are already more than 140,000 students enrolled from 65 school districts, charter networks and community colleges — and students have taken 5.6 million free rides to date. The list of GoPass participants includes the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) — the largest school district in our region — and Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD), which is the second largest. Fourteen schools and districts recently joined GoPass and another eight are in the process, with students soon eligible to ride free.

The idea behind GoPass is simple: we want to put money back in the pockets of families and we want to better connect students to opportunities and destinations across L.A. County.

A study conducted by The Hope Center for Community College and Justice and DVP Praxis showed that students with access to discounted or free transit performed better in student retention, credits earned, and completion than those without an assisted transit card. In this study, students receiving a Metro pass were 17% more likely to earn a credential, and 27 percent more likely to earn an associate degree. We also know from numerous studies over the decades that those who get degrees have higher earning power.

•To see if your school/district is already enrolled in GoPass, please see the list at the bottom of this post. If your school district is listed, contact your school administrator to get your free GoPass TAP card to ride for free. 

•If you have received your GoPass TAP card, you have to activate it before using. Click here to activate your card.

•If you are a student and want to bring the GoPass to your school/district, please fill out this short online form so we can send you more information.

•If you work for a school and/or district that wants to participate in GoPass, please fill out this short online form so we can get you more info.

The GoPass pilot program runs until June 30, 2023. At that time, the Metro Board of Directors will evaluate the pilot and decide how to move forward with the GoPass in the future.

Have questions about GoPass? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions.

Our top priority is ensuring the safety of our riders. Learn more about riding our system safely here.

Community Colleges Participating in GoPass

• Cerritos College
• Citrus College
• Compton College
• East LA College (ELAC)
• Glendale Community College (New Fall 2022)
• Long Beach City College
• LA City College
• LA Harbor College
• LA Mission College
• LA Pierce College
• LA Southwest College
• LA Trade and Technical College
• LA Valley College
• Mount San Antonio College (Mt. SAC – New Fall 2022)
• Santa Monica College (SMC)
• West LA College (WLAC)
  

K-12 School Districts in GoPas (Click here for a full list of participating schools within each district)

• Alliance College Ready Charter Schools
• APEX Academy/Matrix Academy for Success
• Arts in Action Charter (East LA)
• Aspire Public Schools
• Birmingham Community Charter High School
• California School of the Arts – San Gabriel Valley (Duarte)
• Camino Nuevo #2/Dalzell Lance High School
• Cathedral High School
• Centinela Valley Unified
• CHAMPS Charter 
• Conservation Corps of Long Beach
• Culver City Unified School District
• Da Vinci RISE High School
• Duarte Unified
• Ednovate
• El Camino Real Charter High School
• El Monte Union High School District (New Fall 2022)
• El Rancho Unified 
• Environmental Charter Schools (ECS)
• Episcopal School of Los Angeles
• Equitas Academy (New Fall 2022)
• Gabriella Charter Schools
• Geffen Academy (New Fall 2022)
• Green Dot / Animo Charter Schools
• ICEF Public Schools (Charter)
• Immaculate Heart (New Fall 2022)
• Inglewood Unified (New Fall 2022)
• Intellectual Virtues Academy (IVA) of Long Beach
• James Jordan Middle School (New Fall 2022)
• KIPP Charter Schools (New Fall 2022)
• Larchmont Charter 
• Libertas Charter
• Long Beach Unified
• Los Angeles Academy of the Arts and Enterprise (LAAAE)
• LA Alliance Charter Schools (Charter)LA County Office of Education (LACoE) (New Fall 2022)
• LA Promise Fund / Russell Westbrook Why Not? Academies
• Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD)
• Magnolia Public Schools (New Fall 2022)
• New Designs Charter Schools
• New Los Angeles Charter School (New Fall 2022)
• New West Charter School
• North Valley Military Institute
• Northpoint School
• Options for Youth – Duarte (New Fall 2022)
• Pacoima Elementary Charter School
• Palisades Charter High School (Effective 8/1/2022)
• Para Los Niños
• Paramount Unified
• Pasadena Unified
• Pomona Unified
• Renaissance Arts Charter High School (New Fall 2022)
• Santa Monica-Malibu Unified (SMMUSD)
• Scholarship Prep
• STEM Preparatory Schools
• Synergy Academics
• The School of Arts and Enterprise (SAE-Pomona) (New Fall 2022)
• TIME Community Schools
• TREE Academy (New Fall 2022)
• Value Schools
• Vaughn Next Century Learning Centers
• Vox Collegiate
• We the People High School (Charter)
• Whittier Union High School District
• Youth Build Charter Schools
• Youth Policy Institute Charter Schools