Chattanooga Library, CARTA team up for free summer bus passes
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) – The Chattanooga Public Library made an announcement that it believes will benefit children across the city this summer.
The Chattanooga Public Library and CARTA will be offering free bus passes this summer.
The library says each K-12 student who signs up for its “Make Play Read Learn” summer reading program will receive a free CARTA bus pass as well.
A guardian of a student aged 5 to 11 would be able to ride with the child free of charge as well.
Students do not have to be from the city of Chattanooga to participate.
They say the idea came from within and has been in the works for years.
The library’s executive director, Will O’Hearn said, “It was one of our great employees, her name is Lyn, Dr. Lyn Hunter. She’s amazing. She’s always had a good propensity for the library and public transportation as well, bringing those two loves together and being consistent with this. We tried to get something like this going pre-pandemic, but the pandemic happened. But we stuck with it.”
Dr. Hunter added, “We began talks back in 2020 before the pandemic, so when we were able to pick up where we left off, we jumped at the opportunity! We are so grateful for CARTA’s support in ensuring our children have a safe, free way to enjoy the summer.”
O’Hearn said this program is designed to provide Chattanooga’s youth with transportation access that hopefully can influence their summer plans.
“We all want people to be able to do and accomplish things they may not have been able to do otherwise. So, while it seems like an unlikely partnership, it really is a good fit for us in terms… one of the main barriers and obstacles people have is that transportation component,” O’Hearn explained. “We really want to make sure that it is not something that gets in the way of people accessing enriching educational opportunities for us… We’re trying to create [the] One Chattanooga, one experience for all Chattanoogans, and right now, we know that is not the case. So, with our community passes and family passes, we can make sure everyone has those experiences.”
“This is another chance we can go, ‘hey, how can we make sure everyone has those experiences?’ This is another chance we can go, ‘hey, we can make sure everyone has the same opportunity to have fun enriching activities to do during summer, educational activities.’ Everyone deserves that,” O’Hearn added.
The passes will become available on May 27 and sign-ups are already available online on the Chattanooga Public Library’s website.