The SamTrans Youth Mobility Plan is a strategic blueprint for how SamTrans can address the mobility needs of youth in San Mateo County and cultivate the next generation of bus customers. For the purposes of this Plan, youths are categorized into three age groups: 12 to 14 year-olds (middle schoolers), 15 to 18 year-olds (high schoolers), and 19 to 24 year-olds (college students and other young adults).
The Plan examines the current state of youth bus ridership in San Mateo County and compares these local trends to national trends. The Plan also summarizes findings from outreach with youth and their parents at several county schools and through local youth organizations such as the Youth Leadership Institute.
From these findings the Plan recommends a variety of organizational, fare policy, marketing, technology, and operational initiatives designed to enhance youth ridership to schools and other destinations. SamTrans hopes that by providing high quality school-related bus routes and initiatives, youth in San Mateo County will become comfortable with SamTrans service during the week and then transition to also using buses as their mode of transportation for trips on weekends or to other destinations, like recreation or part-time jobs.
This Plan embodies the agency’s commitment to providing responsive mobility options to this growing population today – and making investments in the transit riders of tomorrow.
The Youth Mobility Plan was adopted by the SamTrans Board of Directors on August 2, 2017 and will now move into the implementation phase within departments throughout SamTrans. The final Plan can be downloaded below