Will Fernandez said it was real easy.
He asked for a TAP card embedded with the LA Metro senior discount, since he was 62 years old and qualified. He provided his information, the attendant took his photo and he was presented with a temporary senior TAP card.
“I am looking forward to using it,” said the Monrovia resident. “I won’t have to drive the freeways and I can get out of my car, and like I said, it is important to make a difference for the planet.”
After investing heavily the last few years in ride-free passes for K-12 students and community college students as well as low-income riders, the county mega transit agency made a big push on Thursday, May 18 toward getting senior citizens to use mass transit.
An “older adult transportation expo” brought about 400 people to the Pasadena Convention Center who learned about which train or bus went where, what is this thing called the “Regional Connector” rail line, the logistics of paying with a TAP card instead of cash, and applying for the senior discount.
Whether one calls it social engineering or inevitability, if there’s anyone in the inner city or the suburbs of car-centric Southern California that may have to reckon with the loss of driving privileges, it’s older adults.
“There will come a time when we all won’t be able to drive, so public transportation will be an option,” said Lily Ortiz, who oversees Metro’s older adults program, called On The Move Riders.
Ridership on its seven rail systems is at 58% of pre-pandemic levels, while bus ridership is at 78% of pre-pandemic levels, Metro CEO Stephanie Wiggins reported in April. Rail ridership has been flat in the first quarter of this year, she said.
Bringing back those riders has Metro straining against the trend. More commuters are working remotely, instead of taking the train to job centers in downtown L.A., Culver City, Long Beach, Torrance, North Hollywood and Pasadena, for example. So the agency has added more…
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