The Brief

School buses drive to and from about 90% of Los Angeles Unified schools, but less than 10% of students are on board.

“Often our buses ride with a number of empty seats,” said Superintendent Alberto Carvalho. “There's no reason for that. Let's fill those seats up. There's capacity. The bus is gonna travel the route anyway.”

This is the second year where the district is offering “transportation for all,” but the availability varies depending on your family’s needs, locations and what school they attend.

New this year, the district will prioritize bus service for families who are worried about being targeted by immigration officials while walking or driving their child to school.

“We want to make it as easy and safe for parents and children to get to school,” Carvalho said. “If by using transportation for all we can reduce or eliminate some of the concerns parents may have about walking their children to school, we are here to do that.”

In this guide, we’ll talk about:

• How to request transportation 
• How the district prioritizes busing 
• Free Metro passes for students 
• Bus upgrades 

And hear from students about their bus-riding experiences.

“There's this really amazing community that comes together for all the LAUSD buses,” said 2025 graduate Eno Thomson-Tribe. “ I met a bunch of my friends on the bus.”

How do I request bus pickup?

There are several options to learn more about what transportation is available for your child.

LAUSD Transportation Director Daniel Kang says the Parent Portal app is the most direct and effective way to request a ride.

 You can also ask school staff, including the principal, or counselors, or call the district’s resource hotline: (213) 443-1300.

You’ll need to provide the name of your child’s school and your address. You may also be asked why you’re requesting transportation. Families are not required to share their immigration status and the district does not retain this information.

“Any information we obtain to provide those [bus] routes as an accommodation is information that shall never be shared with any agency whatsoever,” Carvalho said. “So for the parents, do not fear. Speak with us.”

How are requests prioritized?

California doesn’t require schools to offer transportation, though the federal government does require it for the following groups:

• Students with disabilities whose Individualized Education Program (IEP) includes transportation.
• Unhoused students.

LAUSD also prioritizes busing for:

• Magnet programs and other Choices schools. 
• Areas with hazardous walks to school (i.e. gang activity or dangerous streets). The district also calls this “safe passages.” 
• Families concerned about immigration enforcement actions

The district also adapts to the needs of families. For example, it provides busing for families affected by the Palisades Fire.

Other students may also be eligible, including those:

• With an IEP that does not include transportation.
• Who live more than one mile (elementary school) or more than two miles (middle/high school) from their school.

The lowest priority are families requesting rides merely for convenience. In most cases, these families will be offered a ride on existing routes and stops.

Los Angeles Unified leaders acknowledge that these routes can be located in the opposite direction of their child’s school, too far away or otherwise inconvenient.

“ The bus stop may be four blocks away from where you live, but if you are a first grader, those four blocks, you know, might as well be 4 miles,” Carvalho said.

Bus driver Rosa Quintero is part of a 1,400-person LAUSD transportation workforce that includes mechanics, and aides that help students with disabilities and people who plan routes

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Efforts to change how the district creates bus routes are underway.

“ We'll also be monitoring ridership and continuously adjust throughout the school year based on the needs that come in from our families,” Kang said.

So if the first route you’re offered doesn’t work for your family, try again later in the school year.

What if my child attends a charter school? 

Students at LAUSD-affiliated charter schools may be eligible for district busing based on the same criteria described above.

Independent charter schools run by outside organizations manage their own transportation.

(For more on the difference between these two types of charters, check out our guide.)

Keith Dell'Aquila, vice president of local advocacy in the Los Angeles region for the California Charter Schools Association, told LAist some schools run their own bus service.

“Our schools are incredibly committed to helping anybody who wants to be there,” Dell’Aquila said.

Who rides the bus now?

About a week before the start of the 2025-26 school year, about 30,000 students were signed up for bus services. Kang said the district has the capacity to carry up to 55,000 students to and from school.

The vast majority of existing riders are students with disabilities, an estimated 67% to 70%, according to Kang. The next largest group are students that attend specific academic programs, such as magnets and dual language.

Less than 5% of riders are eligible for bus services through “safe passage.” Starting in the 2024-25 school year, the district added pickups for students who face unsafe commutes to school because of factors, like dangerous streets and intersections and active gang territory.

LAUSD reports that 67% of its 1,300 school buses rely on non-diesel fuels including propane, natural gas (like the buses pictured here) and electricity.

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Incoming senior Gabino Perez got a test ride on one of the district’s new electric buses ahead of the 2025-2026 school year. He said the ride was cooler (because of the air conditioning) and quieter than the vehicles that have taken him to school in the past.

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What are the buses like?

The Los Angeles Unified School District has expanded its fleet of electric school buses to 180 vehicles ahead of the new school year. The second largest school district in the country, 67% of its 1,300 school buses rely on non-diesel fuels, including propane, natural gas and electricity.

LAUSD purchased the first 10 electric buses in 2021. The district expects to save money on gas and maintenance over time, and, like many others, relies on a combination of federal and state funding to subsidize the higher upfront cost compared to a diesel-powered bus.

Students are exposed to fewer pollutants when they ride on a bus powered by natural gas or electricity compared to a traditional diesel vehicle. The new buses also spew fewer toxins into the community — fossil-fuel-powered buses and trucks are a major contributor to Los Angeles’ terrible air quality.

Every bus in the district is also equipped with free Wi-Fi.

Carvalho said some students might opt to use their devices more recreationally. For example, listening to music.

“ Why not? Joy is part of our strategic plan,” Carvalho said.

Who drives the bus? 

LAUSD has a transportation workforce of 1,400 people, including bus drivers, mechanics and aides who help students with disabilities and people who plan routes.  The unions that represent many of these employees include SEIU Local 99 and  Teamsters Local 572.

The district also contracts out about 500 bus routes, largely to serve students with disabilities to external companies because the demand for buses exceeds the district’s supply.

How do I know where my child is?

For the first time in the 2025-26 school year, families will be able to track their child’s bus in real time through LAUSD’s parent portal app.

Can federal immigration officials board school buses?

Carvalho said a child’s ride to and from school is legally protected.

“ They travel with the same protection and safety, the same protocols of protection provided by Los Angeles Unified,” Carvalho said. “Being on that school bus is equivalent to being in a classroom in a school.”

Carvalho said the district has trained bus drivers to respond to federal immigration officers by contacting district administrators, the Los Angeles Unified Police and legal departments.

Immigration enforcement are not supposed to be granted access to the bus or students onboard without a signed judicial warrant.

How can I get my child a free Metro pass?

Students can get free Metro bus and train rides through the GoPass program.

Sign your child up through the school’s front office. A district spokesperson said schools will share information about renewal before current passes expire on Sept. 30.

Last year, 44,996 students got a free TAP card and took nearly 5 million Metro rides through July 2025. In addition, 17,482 adults enrolled in district education programs got a pass.

Some charter schools are also eligible for the GoPass program. You can check for your school online.

Every bus in the district is equipped with free wifi.

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Eno Thomson-Tribe is a 2025 graduate of North Hollywood High School and rode the bus from Eagle Rock daily. His school’s highly gifted magnet program came with a hefty load of homework. “The bus was honestly one of the best times to do it,” Thomson-Tribe said. “I didn't have a ton of free time.”

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Why don’t more kids ride the bus?

California lags the nation in providing bus transportation to students.

The state doesn’t require schools to offer transportation, though the federal government requires schools to provide it for a few specific groups of students, including some with disabilities and those experiencing homelessness.

LAUSD has historically prioritized busing for students with disabilities and in specific academic programs, such as magnets and dual language.

“The current model has basically been engineered to provide the services to those two very important groups of students,” Carvalho said. “But not necessarily for those who on the basis of environmental conditions, distance from school or danger could benefit from transportation and that's what we are changing at this point.”

This story first appeared on The LA Local.

On most weekday afternoons at the Expo Park/USC Metro station outside the University of Southern California, the platform feels like an extension of campus life. People are usually bunched up in pairs or groups. Many wear USC crewneck sweatshirts and talk about campus life as they straddle the edges between downtown Los Angeles and the classroom. What they aren’t talking about are their cars or debating the pros and cons of taking an Uber versus a Waymo. 

“Ubering is expensive every time I’m going somewhere, it’s at least gonna be $30,” Jaiden Torres told The LA Local. Torres is a third-year student at Hofstra University doing a semester in Los Angeles. 

He said a car is the last thing on his mind as he navigates the city. “That’s money that I could be spending on other things. So I try to opt out to take the train.”

For many young Angelenos, the Los Angeles Metro isn’t a last resort. It’s how they move through the city. They’re embracing transit even as the system evolves and works to rebuild ridership and public trust.

More than 500,000 students, including community college students, across L.A. County now ride Metro through its GoPass program, with nearly 60 million student boardings since 2021. Metro says its overall ridership has also continued to recover since the pandemic, reaching more than 82% of pre-pandemic levels in January 2025 and extending a run of more than two years of growth.

In a statement, Metro attributed that increase in ridership to improvements in service, safety and a return of public confidence in the system. 

For Josh Figueroa, a first-year urban planning major at the USC, transit is both a classroom topic and a daily necessity. Originally from Riverside, he moved to L.A. this year without a car and now relies on Metro to get around.

“In terms of getting where I need to go, the Metro is very reliable,” he told The LA Local. “And, because I’m a student, it’s free.”

And it’s not just USC students. Since 2016, Metro has offered a U-Pass partnership that allows students to get unlimited or discounted rides with their TAP cards. The program went from one major university in 2017 to nearly two dozen schools in 2025. 

Jacob Wasserman is a research program manager at UCLA’s Institute of Transportation Studies. He told The LA Local that by offering passes, schools are helping create a culture of students using the Metro.  

“At UCLA, every undergrad and grad student gets a pass. It makes the transit agency money because [schools] buy it for everybody, and the people who do use it get a ton of value. It’s effectively free,” he said. 

For students juggling tuition, rent and groceries, the savings matter.

“I’m definitely more inclined to take the Metro than an Uber because of finances,” Figueroa said. “It’s way cheaper to take the Metro.”

Figueroa also feels more a part of L.A. when riding. “I feel more in connection with a community or in connection with a city when I’m taking the resources and the transportation that they provide,” he said. 

But there are drawbacks. 

On most weekday afternoons at the Expo Park/USC Metro station outside the University of Southern California, the platform feels like an extension of campus life. People are usually bunched up in pairs or groups. Many wear USC crewneck sweatshirts and talk about campus life as they straddle the edges between downtown Los Angeles and the classroom. What they aren’t talking about are their cars or debating the pros and cons of taking an Uber versus a Waymo.

Trains vs cars

L.A.’s landscape is built around cars and freeways, with many Metro stops located in inconvenient places. “It’s hard to fit a transit system into land use that’s built around the car, because you may have to walk that last mile, and if there isn’t just much around, it can be unsafe,” Wasserman said. 

Figueroa has personally experienced this. “A lot of places I want to go, like a food spot somewhere, I’d need to drive because the Metro stops are in inconvenient places. If I get off at a Metro stop, I might have to walk 30 minutes to an hour,” he said. 

But that may change. New Metro expansions are working to connect the city more efficiently.

Metro’s “28 by 28” initiative aims to complete 28 major public rail transportation projects before the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games, including rail extensions, new light-rail segments and rapid bus transit lines. 

Nine projects have been completed so far, including the A Line (formerly the Gold Line) Foothill Extension to Pomona. “[The A Line] is great for connecting college students out there,” Wasserman said. 

He added that these projects are meant to serve everyday riders. “The difference that we’re seeing for the 28 Olympics is that a lot of these projects, even the bus projects, are designed to be Olympic supporting, but also legacy projects beyond that,” Wasserman said. 

Wasserman hopes Metro’s expansion will help keep Angelenos connected across the city and is optimistic about its future.

“We’re really ambitiously expanding our rail system,” he said. “If it can work in L.A., it can work anywhere in the U.S.”

But another major issue affecting ridership is around safety. 

Commuter safety concerns

Figueroa noted that Metro stations with the fewest riders feel less safe.

“In urban places that don’t have a lot of people, there’s this idea of having less eyes on the street. When you have less eyes and less people watching, people tend to feel unsafe because they feel alone. It’s very prevalent on the Metro,” Figueroa said.

Torres noted the difference between the buses and trains in L.A. 

“I feel a lot safer on the train than on the bus. On trains, if it feels unsafe, I can move to the next car. But on the bus you’re kind of stuck,” he said. 

Transit agencies are paying attention to these concerns. Wasserman conducted a research project into the L.A. Metro Transit Ambassador Pilot Program, which provides a visible, customer-focused presence at stations and on vehicles. 

“I think the ambassador program is working well. They’re just like extra eyes, so you’re not in an empty station,” Wasserman said. “They are also doing more serious stuff. They carry Narcan and address overdoses.” 

Figueroa has noticed the changes. “I definitely feel safer. I don’t feel like I’m in danger or threatened,” he said. 

The UCLA report concluded that Metro was “wise to consider, pilot, and now make permanent” the ambassador program. 

The continuous improvements are also shaping how young people view the city itself. “I feel like [by taking the train] I’m getting to observe the working class or day-to-day people of L.A.,” Torres said.

Most Orange County residents favor offering undocumented residents a pathway to legal status rather than blanket deportation, according to a new poll from the University of California, Irvine School of Social Ecology. But that’s not true for a majority of Republicans (54%), who favor deportation, the poll found.

Jon Gould, dean of the School of Social Ecology, said the poll demonstrates the stark difference in public opinion on immigration between Republicans on one side, and Democrats and independents on the other.

“ Majorities are very much in favor of immigration, paths to legal citizenship, and are hesitant to use the enforcement power too strongly," Gould said of the poll results. “It’s surprising in a purple county that we’re seeing both a strong majority one way, and a cleavage where one of the political parties [Republican] is off by itself compared to independents and Democrats.”

Orange County is considered “purple” because the county’s 2 million voters are nearly evenly split, with one-third each registered as Republican or Democrat, and another third registered as No Party Preference or with a smaller political party.

There was agreement across political parties on some issues, Gould said. The majority of respondents agreed that violent criminals should automatically be deported, and that immigrants who are U.S. veterans should never be deported.

UC Irvine School of Social Ecology polled 1,200 Orange County adults on immigration issues in March 2026.

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Gould also said the poll of some 1,200 adults demonstrates the nuanced opinions that most residents have on the subject of immigration. For example, a majority of all respondents (61%) support limiting immigration from countries the government deems dangerous or unstable.

Results of the UC Irvine poll on immigration show agreement across party lines on some nuanced questions.

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Some other key takeaways:

• While 62% of respondents said they disapproved of President Donald Trump’s handling of immigration issues, a smaller margin, 55%, disapproved of his handling of the U.S.-Mexico border.
• A majority said immigration fills essential low-wage jobs (76%) and enhances civic life (67%). A plurality also said immigration strains public services (48%).
• Only small percentages of all respondents said they supported automatic deportation for immigrants convicted of non-violent crimes (23%), unemployed immigrants (16%), recent arrivals (11%), and non-English speakers (10%). 
• On the question of ICE, 73% of Republicans said they supported the agency’s actions, whereas 67% of Democrats and 40% of independents said the agency should be abolished.

Implications for the upcoming elections and immigration reform

Trump’s aggressive immigration enforcement has taken a heavy toll in Orange County. Some families have lost breadwinners to deportation, while others have sought to limit their exposure by quitting jobs and staying indoors. Spending in the county decreased by about one-quarter of a percent immediately after enforcement ramped up last year, according to a separate UC Irvine study. That led to a $4.5 million decline in sales tax over an eight-week period, the study found.

Students protest ICE on Jan. 27, 2026 in front of Anaheim City Hall.

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A growing number of cities, plus the county itself, have set aside funds to support immigrant residents with basic needs and legal services.

This support reflects what Gould called a “sea change” in public opinion since 1994, when two-thirds of Orange County voters cast ballots in favor of excluding undocumented immigrants from public education and other public services. That ballot initiative, Proposition 187, was ultimately found to be unconstitutional and never went into effect.

Gould said the majority of respondents’ positive views on immigration in the recent poll shows how much the county has changed. It’s also a reflection of the vast demographic shifts that have occurred in the county in recent decades as a result of immigration and refugee arrivals from countries like Vietnam.

Nearly 40% of residents polled said both of their parents were born in another country; 82% of Asians polled said both parents were born in another country.

Slightly more than one-third of respondents said they personally knew someone who is undocumented.

Gould thinks the results of the polling bode well for the prospects for immigration reform — despite decades of failure in Washington to strike a deal between Republicans and Democrats. The shift in public opinion might not lead to change in policy yet, Gould said, “but politicians generally follow where the wind’s blowing.”

 “At a time where we're being led to believe that immigration pits people against one another, it's intractable, these battles will go on forever," he said. "I actually think what we're seeing in the data here is that there is a supermajority support for a number of policies on immigration. There is actually potentially a solution here.”

This story first appeared on The LA Local.

Jacque Langston was driving down Manchester Boulevard in Inglewood when he came face-to-face with an odd sight: sea creatures floating across one of the city’s new, spiraling digital billboards. 

“Why am I looking at jellyfish? That has nothing to do with me,” said Langston, an Inglewood native. For Langston, the video billboards that have come to dominate stretches of Inglewood’s major roads are a square peg in a round hole.

“The city has never been touched like that,” Langston said. “Now you’ve got a mini-Vegas.” 

A digital billboard is seen on La Cienega Blvd. at Florence Ave. in Inglewood on April 18, 2026, in Los Angeles.

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Video billboards have proliferated in Inglewood in recent years, targeting the influx of people driving into the city for concerts and sporting events at SoFi Stadium, the Intuit Dome and the Kia Forum. 

Last summer, though, they became a flashpoint for a series of lawsuits that revealed fractures in the once-close relationship between the city and its major entertainment venues. The various parties are now fighting over lucrative advertising territory as major international sporting events approach.

That legal drama — reported last week by The LA Local — also threatens to undo the contract that underpins SoFi Stadium’s financial relationship with the city. 

Langston and other Inglewood residents might get a chance to weigh in on the billboards in November’s election, due to a proposed ballot initiative that would bar most advertisements on public streets. But that ballot initiative itself has now prompted its own potentially costly legal fight involving the city, which receives a steadily increasing stream of revenue from billboard companies, and people with ties to the billionaire-owned stadiums.

Meanwhile, the bright LED video screens have divided local opinion. 

Vanessa Cowan, an Inglewood resident, said the gleaming screens are a sign of progress in the city. “I like them,” she said. “It has a different look.” 

A person walks past a digital billboard on Prairie Avenue in Inglewood on April 18, in Los Angeles.

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Khnum Alexander, owner of Swank Men’s Fashion on Manchester, called the billboards “monstrosities” and said advertising on the screens is too expensive for small businesses like his. He also questioned the new, twisting screens that billboard company WOW Media has recently begun to install in groups of three across the city.

“Do we really need more?” he asked. 

Down the street from Alexander’s menswear store, EZ Will Driving School owner Will McDaniel felt differently.

“I’m all for it,” McDaniel said. “People are afraid of change. Change to them feels awkward.” 

If city leaders have their way, the Billboard Blight Elimination and Neighborhood Preservation Initiative won’t make it to voters this fall.

“What is packaged as an initiative by and for Inglewood residents appears to be a product of avaricious puppeteering by a billionaire developer,” lawyers retained by the city wrote in a March 4 court complaint filed in an attempt to block the initiative. 

That developer, the city’s lawyers contend, was SoFi Stadium owner Stan Kroenke. Attorneys later amended the complaint to include Intuit Dome owner Steve Ballmer.

“Voter suppression”

In February, Inglewood resident Shannon Roberts filed to circulate a petition to prohibit commercial billboards on public streets, sidewalks and medians. The petition, a step towards getting the billboard initiative on the ballot in November, also seeks to prohibit business arrangements for the city to profit from billboard deals. 

“Public spaces belong to people, not billboard companies,” Roberts wrote, adding advertising should instead prioritize public safety messaging, such as emergency alerts, not advertising for profit.

“Inglewood should not be for sale to billboard companies for decades at a time — especially when such arrangements permanently alter the character of our beautiful city and erase the legacy of those who fought to preserve our neighborhoods,” Roberts wrote.

Roberts did not respond to a request for comment. When The LA Local reached out to her lawyer, a veteran campaign spokesperson responded.  

John Shallman has been a consultant in Southern California politics for decades and formerly worked for the Clippers when they moved to the Intuit Dome. 

He is now working with Roberts to get the anti-billboard initiative on the ballot; their website and campaign are called Inglewood Not for Sale.

He said he’s never seen a city sue one of its residents over an idea they’re attempting to put before voters.

“It’s voter suppression,” Shallman told The LA Local. “You can run a campaign against it, but trying to stop it from getting in front of citizens at all, that’s a big red flag. We’re all about voter empowerment. They’re the public’s streets, parks and medians. They control how they’re used and how they’re sold.”

Inglewood Mayor James Butts did not return a request for comment. The city’s lawyers argued in court filings that the initiative shouldn’t be allowed to go before voters because it would unconstitutionally restrict speech, lay out illegal zoning guidelines and hurt the city’s contract with WOW Media, the company that controls many of Inglewood’s billboards. 

Shallman believes that the Inglewood City Council cut a bad deal in April 2025 with WOW Media when the city approved a 20-year contract, which can be extended for decades. “It’s sort of biblical in its length of time,” he said. “The city decided that the profit of one company is far more important than the residents who will have to live with these billboards.”

The campaign has already collected several thousand signatures, Shallman said. 

Shallman dismissed the city’s accusations that the coalition he works with does not authentically represent Inglewood’s residents. Though Roberts’ name is on the initiative, the filing fee was paid for by Gerard McCallum II, a longtime associate of Hollywood Park.

Shallman said the initiative is raising money from all sorts of supporters, including those tied to the Rams and Clippers professional sports teams.

“You’re talking about an insignificant sum of money that pales in comparison to the hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars that will be spent to sue this Inglewood resident,” Shallman said of the filing fee.

Inglewood’s November election could be packed

WOW Media is opposing the billboard initiative through its own campaign, Inglewood Residents for Stadium Accountability. 

CEO Scott Krantz wrote in a statement to The LA Local that the billboard initiative, which does not include stadium billboards, would deprive the city of up to $2 billion in revenue over 40 years.

“The stadiums share none of their advertising revenue with Inglewood residents. We trust the people of Inglewood to see the stadium owner billionaire’s scam for exactly what it is,” Krantz wrote.

Krantz and Inglewood Residents for Stadium Accountability are also backing a pair of initiatives that could have a big impact on stadiums’ bottom line: The initiatives seek to remove admissions tax caps for large venues and limit how much some parking lots can charge during major events. 

Longtime Mayor Butts is also up for reelection in November, as are Councilmembers Gloria Gray and Alex Padilla and a few school board members. 

Wherever the votes land, Inglewood’s rapid transformation doesn’t appear to be slowing down. 

“Times are changing around here,” said Rick Todd, who sat at a table on Manchester Boulevard on Thursday, selling jugs of soursop tea. Up the street, a video billboard flicked between an Inglewood police recruitment poster and an ad for “The Devil Wears Prada 2.” “This goes along with it.”