LOS ANGELES (CNS) - The Metro Board of Directors approved a proposal today to offer free rides on the upcoming election day on all of its buses and train lines.
The idea was put forward by Los Angeles Mayor Garcetti, Los Angeles County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl, Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas and Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia to lift fares for all riders on Nov. 6.
“Voting is one of the most important acts of civic engagement,” Kuehl said. “And Metro wants to make sure our county voters get the message: `Please vote! We want to make it easy for you.”'
Garcetti's office noted that the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's 2016 Survey of the Performance of American Elections found that 51 percent of California voters cited a lack of transportation as a factor for not voting, and that other studies have shown that lack of access to transportation to get to polls disproportionately affects minority voters, people with low incomes, persons with disabilities, and young people, which are also the populations most reliant on Metro for mobility.
“It's an honor to provide free transportation for one of the most important activities in our nation*s democracy,” Metro CEO Phillip A. Washington said. “I encourage everyone to take advantage of this opportunity to make their voices heard. Go Metro to vote.”