DASH Buses to Resume Fare Collection Saturday February 1

Updated January 10: LADOT Transit announced that resumption of DASH fares scheduled to begin January 11, 2025 has been postponed until further notice due to the emergency situation caused by the wildfires. Information at DASH alerts.

Updated January 29: DOT announced fares resume this Saturday February 1

This Saturday, February 1 January 11, L.A. City DASH buses will resume collecting fares.

At the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, the city of Los Angeles Transportation Department (LADOT) made DASH transit fareless. After nearly five years of fare-free operations, the city will return to charging the same fare it charged pre-pandemic: 50 cents.

There are lots of ways to ride DASH for even less. Using stored value on a TAP card, the DASH fare is discounted to 35 cents.

Pre-school age kids ride free with an adult (up to two children per fare-paying adult).

K-12 students continue to ride free via the Metro’s GoPass program – show the student TAP card to the DASH operator. (See Metro GoPass instructions and eligible schools list.) Eligible college students ride free via GoPass or U-Pass.

Seniors and disabled individuals ride at reduced fares. Eligible seniors and disabled folks can ride free via Access Services or Cityride. Low-income riders can get 20 free rides per month via Metro LIFE (Low Income Fare is Easy)

DASH originally stood for Downtown Area Short Hop. While DASH service is extensive Downtown (including connections to USC, L.A. Trade Tech College, MacArthur Park, and Chinatown), the short hop service carries riders in more than two dozen L.A. City neighborhoods – from Watts to Northridge to Eagle Rock to Fairfax.