Santa Rosa City Council
May 13, 2025

Santa Rosa CityBus
Unlimited Rides for Youth
Program Extension
Santa Rosa City Council
May 13, 2025
1 2
CityBus Unlimited Rides for Youth Program (UR Free)
Background
• Fare-free program for TK-12th grade youth initiated July 2021 as 18-month pilot to support transit ridership and community recovery from COVID • Funded by BAAQMD Transportation Fund for Clean Air grant • Council extended pilot to June 2023 to enable the Transit Division to pursue funding to continue the program
• Successful multi-operator application to the
Sonoma County Climate Resilience Fund
funded a two-year extension through June
2025 and expansion to include Sonoma
County Transit and Petaluma Transit
3 Program Goals:
✓ Increase transit ridership
✓ Reduce household
expenses for families
✓ Improve school attendance
✓ Increase transit’s profile
within the community
✓ Improve transportation
equity
✓ Increased youth access to
the community
✓ Reduced car trips to school
and other destinations
✓ New partnership with
schools, camps, and youth-
serving programs
✓ Expansion to additional
transit operators
Additional Outcomes:
4 198,000
231,600
347,400
426,000
447,300
-
50,000
100,000
150,000
200,000
250,000
300,000
350,000
400,000
450,000
500,000
FY18-19 FY19-20 FY20-21 FY21-22 FY22-23 FY23-24 FY24-25 125% increase in
Youth Ridership
since UR Free
Program initiated
(Projected)
Incomplete data;
fare-free period
during COVID
Annual CityBus Youth Ridership
Proposal
• Authorize extension of UR Free Program through FY2030, subject to funding availability to reimburse lost fare revenue attributable to the program
• UR Free annual cost at current ridership level: $525,000 • FY26 proposed funding program:
• $220,000 in Go Sonoma sales tax measure funds (2% of measure revenue allocated to fare-free transit programs)
• $305,000 in state Low Carbon Transit Operations Program (LCTOP) funds • Funding strategy likely solid through FY30; can revisit if conditions change or Council seeks to fund additional fare-free programs 5 Recommendation
It is recommended by the Transportation and Public Works Department that the Council, by resolution, extend the
Unlimited Rides for Youth (UR Free) program for TK-12th grade youth through June 30, 2030, subject to ongoing
funding availability.
6 Questions?