MI: New pilot program gives Detroit K-12 students free bus rides

Detroit students can ride the city's buses for free starting this week.

In a push to reduce absenteeism and connect students with educational programs and services, Mayor Mary Sheffield on Monday unveiled the city's new Ride to Rise pilot program. All public, private and charter school K-12 students, ages 5-18 in the city, can show their IDs and will be allowed to ride the bus for free for the next six months.

"Detroit's young people deserve a city that prioritizes every young person and ensures they have access and opportunities to grow and thrive," Sheffield said.

In a Monday statement, Sheffield's office estimated nearly 30% of Detroiters don't own a car. The mayor's office also noted that students who miss 10% or more of the school year "fall significantly behind their peers."

Ride to Rise aims to take the burden for public transit off Detroit Public Schools Community District, which spends roughly $700,000 annually on more than 4,000 high school students that get bus passes through the school, according to District Superintendent Nikolai Vitti.

Vitti said the district has paid for students' bus passes "for decades."

"I appreciate and don't take any of this for granted," said Pershing High School Senior Mac Sconi, 17, said at a Monday news conference at Farwell Recreation Center. "We are in a situation where we have a few scenarios where there are students that can't think about how to get to school, or people have to worry about bus fares."

Detroit Transit Director Robert Cramer said the city can cover the six-month pilot program with $200,000 at most because it will stretch over the summer months.

"We have advocated for (that money) to go toward after-school time, after-school programming, things around transportation, that would ultimately benefit the students," Sheffield said at the news conference.

As the pilot program progresses, Detroit officials will conduct public hearings and examine how it impacts city finances, said Cramer. Information gathered from these efforts will then be presented to city council, he said. Additional funding for the program would have to be approved by council.

Sheffield said student safety has come up as they have rolled out the pilot program. She said she has spoken with Cramer about having ambassadors on some of the routes to address this concern. The pilot program will only pay for students to ride the bus, not parents who may want to accompany their children to school.

"We’re also looking at ways that we can increase routes," said Sheffield.

Vitti said the program will get the district, which is the largest school district in the state with approximately 48,000 students, "that much closer" to students being in school consistently.

"When you actually listen to our students, they'll tell us that transportation is a factor that gets in the way of school every day, so we are optimistic that with this kind of investment, greater access to transportation will lead to easier access to school, which should reduce chronic absenteeism," said Vitti.

“This is kind of the beginning of a new chapter of coordination and collaboration – not only with DPSCD, but with all the different schools across the city to really learn about how our routes and services and offerings can really work better for them," said Cramer.

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