Los Medanos College students will have the opportunity to visit Downtown Pittsburg during their leisure time by hopping on Tri Delta Transit’s new Route 381 starting Sept. 25, and will be free for students until Dec. 31.

According to Tri Delta Transit Marketing Director Mike Furnary, the 20-minute bus ride was developed by both the City of Pittsburg and LMC to address the new Pittsburg Center BART station and with the needs of students traveling to and from East County to Pittsburg in mind, cutting “their travel time to school considerably.”  

“We think the frequency of this route and the short duration of the route really makes it quick for [students] to get away from campus and go do something different, “ said Furnary. “Pittsburg has put a lot of effort into their downtown and it’s very nice place to be.”

Although the invitation for students to ride for free is only until the end of the year, Furnary said that Tri Delta Transit supports the idea for LMC to create a program that would allow students to pay a fee every semester for a universal pass.

He explained that in order for thi

s to happen, students would need to have a referendum and vote on whether or not they would be willing to pay an additional student fee for the pass — not exactly being free of charge because they would be paying for it in the fee, but still having that automatic process.

“We’ve been supportive of this for years,” said Furnary adding, “We’d like to see it happen, we see tremendous value in it and we think it’s great for the students out there.”

LMCAS Adviser John Nguyen said that there isn’t a plan to create universal passes with Tri Delta Transit at the moment but students Marco Jimenez and Tayadi Bush would be willing to have the pass as long as the student fee is reasonable.

“I think it’s beneficial,” said Jimenez adding, “I see it as a good thing that can help the people who can’t afford transportation.”

Bush echoed similar sentiments explaining that it would be beneficial, but at the end of the day, the students would still be paying for transportation.

“On one hand, it would help the school but on the other… [Students] are still paying to take the bus,” said Bush with Jimenez adding, “It’s a double-edged sword.”  

For additional information regarding Tri Delta Transit’s new 381 Route, visit trideltatransit.com.