Delta College, in partnership with RTD, has been offering free rides for students with new ID cards since Aug. 23. and students can now ride all over San Joaquin county with their student ID.
“The RTD bus is the county, it has unlimited ridership anywhere in the county RTD bus line,” said Alex Breitler, Delta’s director of Marketing, Communication, and Outreach.
Students only need to obtain a new Delta Student ID that contains a barcode that will scan when boarding the buses. Students can check their email for instruction on new ID cards. If students have not requested a student ID make sure to first receive an email within a preferred email address (it can be your student ID or personal email) and the email’s subject line is “student ID card.”
When receiving the email students will enter information and follow the photo submission guidelines. Once approved students’ IDs are printed and mailed to the address that has been proved in the request form.
Even though the Fall semester is coming to an end Breitler encourages students to still apply for the program as it is still not too late and will still be available for next year. Breitler says, “The program will run through Spring 2022 and summer semester.”
The RTD Bus Rapid transits the bus 40 stops in front of Delta College and runs every 15 minutes on weekdays.
Students don’t only have to use the bus for school purposes as they are also allowed to ride the bus anywhere they would like to visit and also on the weekends. Breitler says, “The nice thing about the partnership with RTD is the students are under the impression that’s only to ride the bus to Delta but is to ride anywhere within the RTD services area. For example, if it’s a Saturday and you want to ride the bus to go out, you can do that.”
The partnership also supported one of RTD’s core values, which includes a commitment to environmental sustainability. Alternative transportation over single occupancy decreases the parking structure in college campuses but also improves air quality for the community. RTD’s core values are, “sustainability- we commit to a sustainable business model that includes environmental and fiscal responsibility, business continuity, and succession planning.
“RTD has emphasized the environmental benefit of mass transits, we sure value them wanting to build a more sustainable college and community so I think that is a great source of the benefit of this program getting people to change their lifestyle a little bit,” says Breitler.
