Los Angeles public transit riders, rejoice! The L.A. Metro is offering free rides across the city this Wednesday, February 4th, in honor of Transit Equity Day.
The organization shared the news in a blog post and is gearing up to honor the occasion with free rides for passengers across city buses, rails, trains, bicycles, and Metro Micro.
What is Transit Equity Day?
The holiday began as an acknowledgement and celebration of civil rights icon Rosa Parks, who famously refused “to surrender her seat on a bus to a white passenger in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1955.”
Her courage “led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott by Black riders,” L.A. Metro writes, which “helped power the emerging Civil Rights movement across the country and led to the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1956 ruling that bus segregation was unconstitutional.”
The day was created ” to remind everyone that good public transit is a fundamental right that connects people to jobs, education, health care, culture, family, and the world around them.” That mantra is especially important in a city like Los Angeles, “where about nine percent of households have no vehicles and about 30 percent of households have an income of less than $50,000.”
How do you redeem your free ride?
When it comes to L.A. Metro buses and rails, all you have to do is simply board the vehicle. You don’t have to do anything elseto get the free ride.
For a free Metro Bike ride, use the code 020406. For on-demand service with Metro Micro, use the code EQUITY26.
The rides include public transit options across L.A. County.
Anything else?
Yes! L.A. Metro has also released a Transit Equity Day TAP card with an adorable design. It’s available beginningFriday, January 30, but only at Metro Customer Centers and select Metro Rail and Busway stations. The card costs $2.