Portland's Youth Pass Program will continue - KPTV - FOX 12
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After a fight, the Youth Pass Program for Portland Public School District will continue.
Portland Mayor Sam Adams and TriMet General Manager Neil McFarlane have come to an agreement for next year.
TriMet threatened to take away the passes after a budget crunch, but Adams said they needed to find a way to keep the passes.
Valued at $2.9 million, the Youth Pass provides free transit passes for nearly 13,000 high school students in the Portland Public School District.
TriMet and the City of Portland agreed the city will fund $200,000 of the program and PPS will fund $950,000. TriMet will absorb the program balance of $1.8 million in foregone fare revenue.
"TriMet is a top-tier transit agency and a valuable community partner. I am grateful for their collaboration to ensure that Portland Public's high school students get to class, activities and jobs - and most importantly, graduate from high school on time," Adams said. "This next generation of TriMet riders thanks them as well."
"TriMet and the city are strong partners, and this agreement continues that partnership while maintaining this valuable transit program moving forward," said TriMet General Manager Neil McFarlane.
The program started in September 2008 as a pilot project.
Now, 80 percent of PPS students report using their pass on a regular basis.
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