City of Los Angeles DASH buses are now free for community college and Los Angeles Unified School District students.

Alex Cohen talks to Eric Garcetti, the Mayor of Los Angeles, about the program. Garcetti says the buses are free day or night, 365 days a year.

He was inspired after talking to college students who had to drop out of school because they couldn’t get to work, and younger students who were late to class because they had to walk instead of being able to afford riding the bus.

When asked how the city will afford the rides, he said the pilot program is worth the expense.

“How can we afford not to? Because our Department of Transportation thinks we will actually increase the number of passengers on our bus lines [and we will] get more money,” Garcetti said.