Metrolink’s Student Adventure Pass (SAP) has been renewed through June 2025, allowing
students within Southern California (SoCal) to ride Metrolink trains for free for yet another year. The Student Adventure Pass started last October, as Meredith Yeomen, Public Relations manager at Metrolink puts it as “a passion project for our CEO”, with the intent to provide some financial relief for students by allowing them to ride Metrolink lines for no additional cost. This includes K-12 students, university students, and even those attending trade school.
Erika Cortez, intern and SAP holder added on to this motive stating that the Student Adventures Pass’ overall goal was to provide, “equity and overall providing access to opportunities. We just wanted to provide this to allow people to access opportunities, such as getting to and from school, traveling for work purposes and getting internships like myself, and so I feel like that’s one of the main driving forces behind why we’ve created this program.”
The SAP can be utilized through the Metrolink App, by creating an account using a student email address and verifying it. The e-ticket is then inserted into the account’s mobile ticketing wallet on the Metrolink app which can then be activated before climbing aboard the train. By selecting round trips and student/youth for the rider option this program also works for paper tickets as long as you present your student ID once onboard.
However, the SAP does not just utilize Metrolink’s public transportation services. Metrolink has a number of partnerships within the counties they operate in, including Riverside Transportation Agency (RTA), Omnitrans, North County Transit District (NCTD) Breeze/Sprinter, and City of Camarillo Dial-A-Ride. These partnerships allow for extended travel to also be fare free. By presenting the Student Adventure Pass before you board these services, or by scanning the QR code once more, students can also take advantage of their local public transit for no cost.
This program has drastically impacted the amount of students using Metrolink, with there being a jump in student ridership from 18% in September 2023 to 23% in August 2024. University of California Riverside (UCR) itself ranks first in the number of active accounts at 3,683. These numbers and testimonials were provided by Metrolink.
Recent surveys of students using the SAP, collected by Metrolink, reveal that the program has made their college experience more enriching both financially and recreationally. One student in the survey shares, “I feel that the free student pass was extremely helpful, especially since I’m in college and it’s very expensive traveling from LA to Riverside where my college is. It help[s] me save a lot of money and it made it easier for me to get my education without having to worry if I had enough money to get on the train to make it to school or not I truly appreciate having the free pass and I think that many other students would love to continue with having this free Metrolink pass.”
Cortex and Yeoman both emphasized that though the program was created to help students cut costs, it is also meant to enrich their college experience as a whole: “We want people to use this sort of recreationally as well, to let them know that it’s not just for school purposes. You can use it .. at your own discretion. If you want to go home, if you want to meet up with friends in a different city, you want to take a day trip, you want to go to the beach, we have a couple stops, literally right in front of the beach, right next to the pier.”
Additionally, for students who live on campus but choose to go home often this program could help eliminate costs from expensive ride shares without worrying about safety as security is patrolling the platform areas and conductors are moving up and down the trains almost constantly.
Yeoman explained that continued renewal of the program has a lot to do with finding funding sources. Despite the program’s popularity and support from member agencies such as that of LA Metro, Riverside County Transportation Commission, Orange County Transportation Agency, San Bernardino County Transit Authority and Ventura County Transportation Commission finding new funding sources will be imperative to the continuation of the program. However, Cortez added that continued user growth and student engagement would show promise for potential sponsors.
