Res 0017-2022

Whereas, New York City's (NYC) Department of Education (DOE) Office of Pupil Transportation (OPT) operates the largest school transportation system in the country facilitating transportation of over 600,000 NYC students who attend both public and private schools; and Whereas, OPT offers four transportation services for students to travel to and from school, including general education yellow bus transportation, specialized yellow bus transportation, MetroCards for public transportation, and Pre-K and Early Intervention yellow bus; and Whereas, Although OPT's website states that it provides students with MetroCards for public transportation, it does not provide MetroCards for all forms of public transportation, including transportation on the City's express bus; and Whereas, While available data related to student usage of express buses is limited, advocates contend that some students spend $2,700 annually on express buses to travel to school, according to an August 2019 New York Daily News article; and Whereas, In May 2019, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) announced that it would provide all students eligible for school MetroCards with full-fare MetroCards, replacing the previous system which administered half fare MetroCards to 7th-12th graders who lived between a half of a mile and 1.5 miles from school; and Whereas, While this change makes traveling less financially burdensome for students who were paying $1.35 per way to school while using their half fare MetroCard on local buses, it fails to address the financial burden of students who pay $6.75 to travel to and from school on express buses; and Whereas, As of January 1, 2022, more than 2000 parents and advocates signed a change.org petition calling for MTA to lower express bus fares for high school students traveling to and from school; and Whereas, There are over 80 express bus routes in the city, and students should be able to use express bus services to travel to and from school free of charge; now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York calls on the New York State Legislature to pass, and the Governor to sign, legislation that would require the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to provide free express bus fare to New York City students who take express buses to school. Session 12 AH LS 3128 01/24/2022 Session 11 KJ LS #11935 2