Anyone who grew up going to school in New York City remembers — fondly or otherwise — their student bus passes, the color-coded transit lifeline given to K-12 students across the five boroughs for decades before the first student MetroCards were handed out in the late 90s. For years, the bus pass allowed countless kids to get to and from school freely, lifting a burden on families and bolstering our education system in the process.
Looking back on my time as a student, riding the B16 to McKinley Junior High School, my bus pass wasn’t just a free ride to school every day, it was the key to opening the city I’m now proud to serve as a Council member. The bus is where I crammed for tests in the mornings and hung out with my friends after school blasting “Exodus” on my Walkman. The subway was my ticket to another galaxy in the Village where I fell in love with art and music.
But while I admittedly feel a slight pang of nostalgia when remembering the bus pass and the world it opened up for me, I’m hard pressed not to recall what a nightmare the whole system was in reality.
For starters, I had to get a new one every month from my school — often days but sometimes weeks late — leaving me and my parents on the hook for the first few school days of the month. The passes also had the structural integrity of a soggy Doc Gooden rookie card, slightly thicker than toilet paper but just thin enough so they could disintegrate in your pocket on a humid day. It’s no wonder they were re-issued each month.
Then there was also the kafkaesque maze of rules. One card for surface transit, one card for rapid transit. Some cards covered only a half fare (hope you brought change), some cards covered a full fare, but only for certain hours. Lose your card? Forget it. Replacing your bus pass was such a hassle it was easier to just wait until next month’s card came. All this while just trying to remember my school lunch!
Shortly after I graduated high school, the student MetroCard came in 1997, and from what parents and teachers have told me, it was some improvement. Student MetroCards were handed out each semester rather than each month and are composed of the same plastic composite as regular MetroCards.
But a Blue Ribbon Panel on Fare Evasion released last May said plainly what countless students and parents already knew: the MetroCard program is too complex even still. The report even highlighted pictures of the nine different passes that only work certain hours of the day, and only for days a student’s school is in session, leading far too many with MetroCard in hand to skip the line and enter through an open emergency exit gate.
Though not a silver bullet for combatting the MTA’s fare evasion woes, making it easier and cheaper for students to access the public transit system would certainly help.
For a while now, students in the nation’s largest public school system have deserved better still. Nearly 30 years after the student MetroCard first entered kids’ velcro wallets, I’m thrilled there’s a new card coming their way.
Starting this fall, New York City students will now be able to take advantage of the MTA’s OMNY system when using public transit. At schools across the five boroughs, each student will receive an OMNY card, leveraging the same technology from the MTA’s OMNY partner, Cubic, these passes will last longer and work on MTA subways and non-express buses — and offer free transfers across the Staten Island Railway, Roosevelt Island Tram, and Hudson Rail link.
The best part? Students and parents will no longer have to worry about different fare rules matching different types of tickets. The new Student OMNY cards will be valid 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, with up to four free rides a day. This is particularly important for working families as their students get to and from not just school but their after-school activities as well.
Easy, convenient, and free access to public transit for students is a foundational pillar of our education system. By eliminating barriers to access in transportation, students can attend school regularly and — somewhat more often, hopefully — punctually.
So rest in peace, student MetroCard. And apologies for the late farewell, bus pass. As a Council member I’ll do my best to make sure you both find a home in the city’s Transit Museum where you belong.
Brannan represents the 43rd Council District in South Brooklyn.
