Lane Transit gives students free bus passes


Lane Transit District is providing free bus passes in September to students in grades 6 through 12, over concern about loss of BETC funding for a similar program.

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Lane Transit District is providing free bus passes in September to students in grades 6 through 12, over concern about loss of BETC funding for a similar program.

LTD’s Van Winkle said the thinking behind offering free bus service to students for the month of September is twofold: First, LTD did not learn about the loss of funding for the popular Student Transit Pass Program until mid-June, and thus was unable to warn students and parents before the end of the school year last spring. “We wanted to help families with the transition,” she said.

LTD officials had thought the bus pass program would continue for at least another year, running through June 2012. But the Legislature took action in mid-June to end state funding for several transportation programs, including transit passes for K-12 students, killing the program as of July 1.

The bus pass operation was funded through a Business Energy Tax Credit program, and legislators facing a huge statewide budget shortfall decided they no longer could direct state funds to it. Under the program, a private business pursuing an energy conservation project would apply for the 35 percent tax credit in advance, then give 25.5 percent of the value to LTD in a lump-sum payment.

Read more at The Register-Guard.

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