GRTC continues fare-free rides through July 2026
GRTC will fund its fare-free program until next July out of its own budget while it seeks new sources of funding. Photo by Burke Loftus.
Molly Manning, Contributing Writer
The Greater Richmond Transit Company announced on April 11 that they would continue Zero Fare services to the Richmond community through fiscal year 2026, which ends July 2026, according to their website.
Zero Fare was launched in 2020 during the height of COVID-19 as a safety measure and received $8 million in state grant funding in 2021. This state grant also required local matching funds from both GRTC and VCU, according to VPM. Nearly 11 million passengers utilized GRTC buses in fiscal year 2024, 74% of those riders living in a household earning less than $40,000 a year.
As the grant approached expiration, GRTC launched a Transit Access Partnership in 2023 to seek out other sponsors and contributors to fund the Zero Fare services, according to the Richmond Free Press.
VCU spokesperson Brian McNeill stated in an email that VCU initially partnered with GRTC in 2018 before Zero Fare was offered to determine the cost of covering fares for VCU students and employees to access the GRTC Pulse and regular fixed-route bus service.
The current contract VCU has with GRTC, which ends on July 31, works to cover the costs of those students and employees based on estimated ridership, but the implementation of the Zero Fare services eliminated VCU’s need for additional services, according to McNeill.
VCU will also explore advertising on GRTC vehicles as another way to support and may consider contributing should the Zero Fare service change.
Shane Fuchs, a third-year marketing student, said he rides the bus four or five times a week, and it is the best way for students without cars to get around the city.
“Because a lot of us students don’t have cars, the bus being free is pretty much the only way we can get around. If it did cost money, I don’t feel like people would take it,” Fuchs said.
Ashley Potter, GRTC’s communications manager, said that the breakdown of funds can’t be determined for FY26 until the GRTC board, composed of three representative members each from Richmond, Henrico and Chesterfield, convenes on May 20 and approves the budget.
“GRTC is confident in saying that Zero Fare is secured for fiscal year 26 just based on our funding sources currently at play,” Potter said. “We’re just focused now on finding other community partners who are just as passionate about public transportation because we truly believe it has become an essential infrastructure here for the Richmond region.”
