Student with no car? No problem. Escambia STEP bus program lets students ride free.

Public transportation has been a lifesaver for Camille Bonner and her three sons.

There were periods where Bonner didn't have a car and getting her sons to appointments, school, after-school programs and other destinations via Uber or taxi was too expensive to be an option.

Escambia County Area Transit became their go-to way to get around. And thanks to a new program, getting around will be even easier than ever for young ECAT riders.

On Feb. 8, ECAT unveiled its Student Transit Empowerment Pass, a bus pass that allows youth in grades K-12 to ride the bus for free during the school year. STEP pass applications are available online or in person at ECAT customer service offices. Applications must be completed by a parent or legal guardian and are valid until the end of the school year. 

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“If you can just pay for yourself and your child rides for free that goes a long way, especially if you're utilizing a bus more than two days a week,” Bonner said. “ If you're on the bus two days a week, that means you're coming and going so you might change buses anywhere from two to six times in one day. That's just getting from an appointment or to a school or a meeting or to work, so that adds up a lot.”

Along with the empowerment program, ECAT also introduced three new 2022 Gillig buses equipped for 23 riders, the first new buses to be added to the fleet since 2014. They feature additional hand straps for riders to safely stand, Wi-Fi availability, automatic passenger counters and can accommodate two wheelchairs and two bicycles.

Parent Regina Oliver grew up riding the bus and remembers how chaotic it can be for bus drivers having to worry about monitoring students while driving. 

Now with Wi-Fi being available in some buses, Oliver believes it can help distract students and even allow them to use their time on the bus productively.

“I think the Wi-Fi will be awesome because on the way to school, children can do their homework on the way home, who really don't have access to the internet at home,” Oliver said.

 She added, “I feel like because we do live in a Wi-Fi world now that will help other children interact with each other.”

Escambia County Area Transit provides service to over 300,000 residents in Escambia County. Established in 1950, ECAT currently has more than 1,000 stops covering 285 miles of routes with over 1.5 million annual passenger trips.

Keri Buck, a speech language pathologist at Warrington Elementary School, understands gas prices, buying a car, and family finances of saving bus fare for multiple children can be taxing. 

This new program will help the financial situations for families but can also help with allowing children to catch up on reading with myON, an online digital library where students can read books and listen to books, while also utilizing other digital tools the county has to offer. 

“One thing that I focus on and that's important for language development is background knowledge and so having exposure to different experiences,” Buck said. “So having transportation is going to give them the opportunity to go to different places and have exposure to different settings and experiences that they might not have otherwise. So when they're coming back to school you know, they've got some background knowledge for different things that might come up in stories and materials that they're learning about in the classroom. So I think that would be a big benefit.”

For more information about ECAT visit goecat.com.