California

Six SoCal Colleges to Offer Discounted Metro Student Transit Pass

Metro officials hope the program will expand to more schools in the spring.

For some California college students, getting a discounted Metro pass is about to get easier.

A Metro student transit pass, dubbed the "U-pass," was made available to students attending California State University, Northridge Monday. In the coming weeks, five other colleges in Southern California will offer the pass to their students also.

The program, approved in May, allows students to buy a transit pass directly from their school, instead of ordering the pass through the mail from Metro which could take longer than two months. "Metro found only one percent of such students in the country were taking advantage of the passes," KPCC reported.

The maximum cost for the U-pass is $43 per month, although some colleges are subsidizing that amount, KPCC noted. Cal State Northridge students will save 64 percent compared to the normal amount. The school is selling its pass for $96, which covers the 21-week semester.

The passes will be available at Pasadena City College and Rio Hondo College on August 22, the Los Angeles Trade Technical College on August 29, and American Career College and West Coast University on October 15.

Although the passes are available to all colleges, not all colleges have signed onto the program. KPCC reported that USC and UCLA already offer their own subsidized pass to students, which they subsidize by a third and a half respectively. 

Metro officials hope the program will expand to more schools in the spring.

Read more at KPCC.

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