The following items are excerpted or summarized from news releases issued by the California Transit Association members. If you are a member of the Association and would like to submit an item to be considered for inclusion in the Member News Library, please email your press releases to Managing Editor Jacob Herson (jake@caltransit.org). Photos and cutline information with your news release submissions, when possible, are encouraged.
Riverside Transit Agency (RTA) Rolls Back Fares to 1977! 
In celebration of its 45th anniversary, Riverside Transit Agency (RTA), is rolling back its fares to the 1977 price of 25 cents during the period of March 1 to April 30, 2022. The reduced fare applies for all customers riding RTA buses on any route at any time they operate. Dial-Ride passengers ride for just $1 per zone, and youth and students from participating colleges ride free. Riders can use the Token Transit app to pay the special fare. The promotion is funded through state grant money. Learn more here.
RTA interviewed Ulises Mata, a freshman at UC Riverside, who says the free bus rides he gets as a college student have been a hugely helpful for him and thousands like him who are living on a tight budget. “That’s the big benefit, the free rides,” he said. “It’s so outrageously expensive to own a car nowadays so riding the bus is an easy decision.” It wasn’t always easy. When Ulises first arrived to campus, he was without a car, living off campus, and not quite sure about riding the bus. “I had never actually been on a bus before,” he said. “So I decided to give it a try one day and I started to gain a lot of confidence pretty quick.”
Ulises is one of thousands of area college students who get free bus rides thanks to a state grant that allows them to download an app for endless rides anywhere RTA goes, anytime buses operate. The first of his family to go to college, Ulises says the bus has made his pursuit of a higher education possible. He’s focusing on a degree in psychology. “I’m free to go wherever I want, whenever I want thanks to the bus,” he said. “It’s made college a lot easier.”
Gold Coast Transit District (GCTD) Appoints Vanessa Rauschenberger as General Manager 
Gold Coast Transit District (GCTD) has appointed Vanessa Rauschenberger as general manager. Starting the role on March 7, Rauschenberger took over for Steven P. Brown, who is retiring from the agency. The GCTD Board of Directors unanimously approved Rauschenberger as the district’s new leader during their meeting on March 2. Rauschenberger will oversee an organization of 200 employees who operate and maintain a fleet of 87 vehicles on a 15-acre site to provide fixed-route and paratransit public transit services to two million passengers annually across five jurisdictions in western Ventura County.
"I look forward to building on GCTD’s mission to provide high-quality transportation services as a conscientious steward of public resources,” said Rauschenberger. “As GCTD continues to strengthen our partnerships with our employees, passengers, and board, I have confidence we will be able to complete an exciting number of new initiatives to make transit more attractive and inviting.” Projects on the horizon include the launch of microtransit for South Oxnard, greater-frequency bus service between Oxnard and Ventura, a bus stop improvement plan, and transitioning to a zero-emissions fleet.
Rauschenberger has more than 18 years of experience in the transportation industry, including more than 11 years at GCTD. As GCTD’s director of planning and marketing, she led the implementation of several new routes, including the recently launched service along Ventura Road in Oxnard, managed the development of numerous service plans, and oversees all grant applications to local, state, and federal agencies. Rauschenberger also spearheaded GCTD’s COVID-19 Recovery Plan. Prior to joining GCTD, she worked for New York City Department of Transportation as an associate planner/project manager for pedestrian projects and safe routes to schools. Learn more here.
Oakland Department of Transportation Piloting Free Transit Program
In December 2021, the Oakland Department of Transportation launched the Universal Basic Mobility program. More than one thousand people applied for the pilot program. The transportation department chose 500 people based on their income levels and transportation needs. The other half of applicants remain on the waitlist in case the city expands the program.
Each of the 500 participants received a $300 transit card that can be used to pay for rides on AC Transit, BART, city bikes, and scooters. Over the next few months, the Department of Transportation will use anonymous user data from the cards to explore future expansion of the program. Funds for the pilot came from an Alameda County Transportation Commission grant. San Francisco and Santa Rosa are also piloting similar free transit programs. Learn more.
Decommissioned Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Cars to be “Given New Life”
As Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) rolls out its new “Fleet of the Future,” the agency wants to see eight decommissioned cars “given a new life,” according to Brian Tsukamoto, a BART special project manager. “We’d like to see them repurposed and have people continue to enjoy these cars.” The agency selected finalists from a pool of 20 proposals, which described what applicants planned for the cars.
Three will end up at the Western Railway Museum in Suisun City, run by the Bay Area Electric Railroad Association. As parts of a “Rapid Transit History Center,” the cars will educate visitors with displays, a small theater, BART artifacts, and a history of the transit system. Other cars will end up elsewhere. One will become a video game arcade, children’s play area, and sheltered outdoor seating area at Arthur Mac’s Tap and Snack, an Oakland beer garden. Learn more here.
Long Beach Transit (LBT) and LA Metro Offer Free Rides to LBCC Students
Long Beach Transit (LBT), LA Metro, and Long Beach City College (LBCC) announced a new partnership that will offer free rides for all LBCC students across several transportation systems. Beginning with the Spring 2022 semester, all LBCC students—whether full-time, part-time, in-person, online, credit/non-credit, or dual-enrollment—will be eligible for the free Metro GoPass, Metro’s student fareless pass program.
The new program is an expansion of LBCC’s highly successful “Strong Beach” Bus Pass Pilot Program with Long Beach Transit that was first introduced in Fall 2019 for full-time students only. Nearly 400 LBCC students responded to an online survey regarding the Strong Beach pilot program, and survey results were overwhelmingly positive. Almost all respondents said that they used their pass on a daily basis and said receiving the pass helped them be more successful at LBCC.
Besides expanding to include all students, the new program also goes beyond Long Beach Transit to include free rides on all Metro bus and rail lines; Culver CityBus; Foothill Transit; Gardena Transit; Montebello Bus; Norwalk Transit; Santa Monica Big Blue Bus, and Torrance Transit.
“About 40 percent of our customers are students, and Long Beach Transit is proud to support the GoPass initiative by providing students with reliable transportation,” said Michael Clemson, Chair of the Board of Directors. “This new program encourages public transit ridership, supports educational achievement and promotes sustainability.” Learn more here.