To help ensure all Chicago area students start the 2022-2023 school year on the path towards success, the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) today announced the return of its ‘First Day, Free Rides’ program for K-12 students as Chicago students. The CTA is once again partnering with Butcher Boy Cooking Oils to provide free CTA bus and train rides to all Chicago-area elementary and high school students, as well an accompanying adult, on the first day of the Chicago Public Schools’ school year – Monday, August 22.
“It is always important for us to be able to provide Chicago students a convenient and affordable means of transportation to and from school, especially as they head back to the classroom on the first day as it sets the tone for the remainder of their school year,” said CTA President Dorval R. Carter, Jr. “We are thankful to Chicagoland-based Butcher Boy Cooking Oils for sponsoring this valued tradition yet again.”
In 2021, the program provided nearly 49,000 free rides to students and their parents or guardians. Since the program’s debut in 2011, more than 1.1 million free rides have been provided for Chicago area students. The “First Day, Free Rides” program is a highly regarded back-to-school tradition for Chicago students.
For the entire academic school year, students can take advantage of discounted fares of 75 cents on school days, between 5:30 a.m. and 8:30 p.m. Beyond school hours, elementary students, ages 7-11, are eligible for reduced fares of $1.10 for a bus ride and $1.25 for a train ride. Students who are age 12 and older will continue to pay the full fare of $2.25 on buses and $2.50 on trains. Children ages 6 and younger ride free with a fare-paying customer.
For more information about Student Reduced Fare, please visit: www.transitchicago.com/students/
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