Why are so many cities offering free public transit on Wednesday?

WASHINGTON — In cities across the U.S., local governments have announced that on Wednesday, Feb. 4, rides on public transportation will be free. 

The reason? Wednesday marks Transit Equity Day in the U.S., which is a celebration of the birth of civil rights icon Rosa Parks. 

Parks, who was Black, famously refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama, bus in 1955 for a white woman, as was required at the time by state law. 

The pre-planned refusal, organized by civil rights activists including Parks, sparked one of the largest bus boycotts in the country’s history and paved the way for the end of segregation on public transportation across the country. 

Transit Equity Day, sometimes called Transit Equality Day, was first recognized nationally by then-Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in 2021. It has risen in prominence since then, with more cities across the U.S. adopting free public transit policies in honor of the holiday, although it is not recognized as a federal holiday. 

In 2021, the average American living in a major city spent between $400 and $1,300 on transportation, including ridesharing, buses and subways, according to the U.S. Department of Labor Statistics. 

From coast to coast, transportation systems in the U.S. are honoring Feb. 4 with free rides. The Metrolink system, which serves Southern California with around 20,000 riders each day, is offering free rides for the day. The Maryland Transit Authority, which operates buses, subways, MARC trains and light rail lines as one of the biggest transit systems in the country, has also announced free rides on Wednesday. 

Notably absent from the list is New York City, whose subway system is one of the most iconic public transportation systems in the world. 

Check your local public transit operator to see if they are offering free or discounted rides on Wednesday.