RydeFreeRT Back to School!

Students can ride into the new school year for FREE with RydeFreeRT. Photo of a student with backpack and image of rydefreert card.

All Day – Every Day

With RydeFreeRT, students in transitional kindergarten through 12th grade can ride the entire SacRT transit network for free. The program includes SacRT buses, light rail and SmaRT Ride on-demand microtransit services. The RydeFreeRT program is available for any youth that live or go to school within SacRT’s service area, which includes the cities of Sacramento, Elk Grove, Folsom, Citrus Heights, Rancho Cordova and parts of Sacramento County. 

Launched in 2019, RydeFreeRT was the first unrestricted youth fare-free ride program in the country. The program allows all 265,000 youth living in SacRT’s service area, from transitional kindergarten to 12th grade, including home-schooled students, foster and unhoused youth to ride all buses and light rail trains for free, all day, any day of the year.

The RydeFreeRT program has helped boost student ridership, which now accounts for nearly 25% of all SacRT bus and light rail rides over the last year. In fact, student ridership carried nearly 3.4 million youth in FY 2023, double what it was in 2019 pre-pandemic.

New RydeFreeRT cards for the 2023-2024 school year are distributed by schools and have a valid date from June 1, 2023 through June 30, 2024. For students that still need a RydeFreeRT card, visit SacRT’s Customer Service and Sales Center located at 1225 R Street (adjacent to the 13th Street Light Rail Station) or Sacramento Public Libraries.  

Note: The RydeFreeRT program does not apply to those over 18 years old that are pursuing their GED.