Come October, Gainesville s oldest and youngest residents will have unlimited free rides on city buses.
Starting Oct. 1, people younger than 18 and those 65 and older will no longer be charged to ride Gainesville Regional Transit System.
Monday night, the Metropolitan Transportation Planning Organization for the Gainesville urban area voted to adopted the yearlong pilot program, with the city and county each pitching in $115,000.
That is the estimated revenue the bus system will lose by not charging those passengers for rides.
City Commissioner Harvey Ward said he hopes the fare-free rides become permanent after the pilot project.
“It is an investment in our children, a repayment of a lifetime of service for our seniors,” he said earlier this week. “I believe transit has a democratizing influence. Number one, if lots of different people ride the bus, that is a good thing. And the easier we make it to ride the bus the less friction we put out there between somebody
In the meantime, staff can analyze what it would cost if all bus rides were free, City Commissioner Harvey Ward said.
Ward said the estimated annual loss in revenues from giving the young and seniors a free ride only adds up to about $230,000, which isn’t much when compared to the city’s larger budgets.
But he said eliminating bus fares for those age groups “speaks directly to equity.
The no-fares plan could help young people get to the library or to part-time jobs, and could help seniors get to a doctor or other key destinations, Ward said.
Ward said this is not the first time the fare waivers have been discussed and it is time to implement the concept.