SmarTrip Changes Student Bus Access with Youth Cruiser Cards 

By Kate Mason

Montgomery County’s Ride On SmarTrip is making a change to its policy of students riding for free. Previously, if a student showed their school ID, they were able to ride for free on all Montgomery County public buses. Now, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) is creating a specific card that students must carry in order to ride for free under the Kids Ride Free Program. 

These cards are called Youth Cruiser cards, which will be required starting Feb. 1, 2026, for kids to ride without paying a fare. After that date, access to buses with school IDs or flashing cards will not be accepted. 

To use the card, you just tap it onto the farebox when boarding the bus, just like you would any other card. The cards don’t cost any money to get, but the student must complete an application, which is available in English and Spanish. These cards are available in many locations, including Montgomery County libraries, all MCPS middle and high schools, and the TRiPS store in Silver Spring. 

If a student gets the card at their school, they are only required to show the application. However, if a student gets it at another county location, they need the application, documents for proof of age, and proof of residency in Montgomery County. 

The age requirements are between 5 and 18, or older as long as you are a student in high school, which can be presented from a birth certificate, passport, or state-issued IDs such as a driver's license or permit. Once a student has graduated from high school, their card is no longer valid. If a card is lost or broken, the replacement is free of charge. 

The goal of this change was to improve accessibility for transportation, have accurate data on ridership, and create a uniform method that is reliable. Einstein senior Zain Queshi said that “while these cards are useful, since the concept of them isn’t well known, it is hard for certain groups, like people who don’t speak English, to access them. Since all students are given a student ID, it is a very easy way to provide this service, and if they want to make this change, it would be a good idea for schools to also give these cards out to all students so that they have all the information and don’t need to figure out how to obtain the cards themselves.” As a frequent rider of these buses, he feels like this could be a really great idea as long as it is carried out in a way that prioritizes the people and makes it a simple transition.