Middle, high school students can ride JTA buses for free starting Jan. 4

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — If your middle or high school student needs to use a JTA bus during the week, they can now ride for free as part of a pilot program called My Ride 2 School.

It launches tomorrow, January 4 as another option for students, especially as they get ready to go back to school after winter break.

Monique Tookes has raised her family in Jacksonville, but remembers growing up in Detroit, where she would take city buses to school.

“I’m very much accustomed to that system, and it works well!” she said.

Today, she’s a mother of nine who has six kids in Duval County Public Schools, and they all take school buses to get to class.

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“I think we’ve lost a lot of great drivers,” she pointed out. “So to accommodate that, we need to have some other options.”

To expand options, Jacksonville City Council Vice President Terrance Freeman proposed making it easier for kids to take city buses.

“I quickly realized that there was a big need,” Freeman said during a press conference Monday morning.

Now, JTA buses will waive fare prices for students as part of the “My Ride 2 School” pilot program.

Starting Tuesday, January 4, middle and high school students can ride JTA’s buses for free from 6 A.M. To 7 P.M., Monday through Friday. They will only need to show their student ID.

Before, JTA offered discounts to youth riders, who make up one percent of its total ridership.

“I’m pretty sure that this opening up to a broader spectrum is going to help a lot of parents,” Tookes pointed out.

However, she says more routes need to be considered.

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“We need to make sure that in those areas where it’s a bus desert, if you will, to make sure that you extend those routes to those areas,” she emphasized.

So Action News Jax Jessica Barreto asked JTA’s CEO Nat Ford if route expansion would be a consideration, to which he responded, “We will look at where we need to make adjustments in terms of our route structure and by all means, if it means an expansion of service to accommodate these students, we’d love to do that.”

Ford also says the pilot program represents a minimal cost to JTA, adding, “we’re using existing capacity and just offering to students to use it complimentary.”

JTA’s Board of Directors will evaluate the pilot program in six months.

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