Cincinnati Public Schools Ride Metro
CPS students ride Metro for free. Learn how to plan your trip, use your pass, and ride with confidence.
Metro Is Your Way to Go to School
We are excited to welcome 7-12th grade students onboard Metro for the 2025-2026 school year! Our mission is to offer a safe, reliable, and convenient transportation option that helps connect CPS students to school and home.
With more than a half-century of collaboration, Metro and Cincinnati Public Schools continue to work together to meet students’ transportation needs and enhance their trip experience. Like in years past, school-year improvements will go into effect the week classes resume, in order to better accommodate CPS riders and reduce travel times and transfers.
Planning Your Trip
When trip-planning, be sure to enter the first day of school or later to see accurate times and schedules.
To help plan your student’s trips to and from school, use the Transit App or Google Maps, where you can find the latest updates regarding bus service or you can download digital schedules, or download schedule PDFs from our Schedules page. Simply enter your home address and your school destination, the time you would like to arrive and be sure to enter a date when school is in session.
Download the Transit App
The easiest way to track your bus and plan your trip.
✔️ Real-time bus tracking
✔️ Notifications for delays
✔️ Save your routes
✔️ Trip planning made simple
Other Trip Planning Resources:
Metro 101: Video Tutorials
how to Ride to School Using the Transit App
GetTING to School With Metro Man! (Coming Soon)
Improved Service for CPS Students
Improvements to student transportation for the 2025-26 school year include:
Eligibility: Eligible CPS 7th-12th graders who live more than one mile away from their school will receive a Metro bus pass. After-school/extracurricular passes for 7th-12th graders will also be available for students participating in those activities.
Service Hours: Metro Student Passes are valid for eligible 7th – 12th grade CPS students for travel on Metro buses Monday through Friday between the hours of 6:00 – 9:30 a.m. and 1:00 – 5:00 p.m. only. Seventh- through 12th-grade students utilizing extracurricular Metro passes will be granted season-specific passes from CPS to use for transportation to and from school extracurricular activities on weekdays until 10:30 p.m.
More options: 7th through 12th-grade students will benefit from increased access across Metro’s system, including added frequency on Metro routes serving CPS high schools and new crosstown routes serving peak student commute times. Students will have more options for getting to school on time, and increased service frequency on these routes will help prevent crowding.
Reduced transfers: Service for the 2025-26 school year will offer more direct bus service to and from high schools. All (100%) of eligible students can ride from home to school and back with one or no transfers needed, with most transfers occurring at an off-street transit center (e.g., Government Square, Oakley Transit Center, or Northside Transit Center).
Safety and Security Enhancements: Metro has dedicated security resources system-wide to ensure the safety of students and all Metro riders, including equipping all buses and transit centers with security monitors. Additionally, Metro partners with Community Service Officers and Cincinnati Police Officers stationed at transit centers to support student safety. If a student needs assistance while riding, we encourage them to immediately notify the bus operator for assistance.
Getting Students Prepared: Metro staff will be on-site at school orientations to assist families with transit information and resources. As an added benefit, parents and guardians can ride free during the first week of school (August 20-27) to help their students get comfortable with using Metro. Metro staff will also be at all Transit Centers during the morning and afternoon, August 20-25.
Frequently Asked Questions
Metro is proud of its long history partnering with CPS to connect student riders to high schools within the district. During the 2024-25 school year, Metro provided more than 10,000 student trips each school day, with an average on-time performance of 95%, with “on time” being defined as arriving within 10 minutes of school-start, as per the district’s request.
How do I get my student pass?
Each school is responsible for distributing Metro passes to eligible 7th-12th-grade student riders for the 2025-26 school year.
New this year, CPS student bus passes are now color-coded to help students, families, and staff easily understand how each pass works:
- Black CPS Pass – Direct Route:
For students whose route takes them directly to and from school without needing to transfer buses. - Blue CPS Pass – Non-Direct Route:
For students who need to one bus transfer. - Red CPS Pass – Extracurricular/Virtual:
Extracurricular and virtual student pass. Student may need to transfer buses.
Each pass is programmed to match the student’s route needs and is easy to recognize by its color.
When is my student pass valid?
Metro student passes are valid for eligible 7th-12th-grade CPS students for travel on Metro buses on weekdays between the hours of 6:00 – 9:30 a.m. and 1:00 – 5:00 p.m. only. Students utilizing extracurricular passes will be granted season-specific passes from CPS to use for transportation to and from school-sanctioned extracurricular activities on weekdays until 10:30 p.m.
What is the student fare?
Thanks to our agreement with CPS, all student riders will receive a special Metro smart card that lets them ride any bus (within the allotted time windows established by CPS) without paying any additional fare.
How do I find my best route option to get to school?
The new schedule information is now available in the Google Transit mapping system. You can preview your new trip in multiple ways, outlined above in the “Planning Your Trip” section. Each of these options allows you to select between routes based on total travel time, the number of transfers or the amount of walking required. Simply enter your home address and your school destination, the time you would like to arrive and be sure to enter a date when school is in session.
Recent service enhancements have ensured that all eligible student riders can ride from home to school and back with one transfer or fewer, with most transfers occurring at an off-street transit center. If you need help with the trip planning, please reach out to Metro for assistance.
How close to each school will the buses drop off and pick up?
Each Metro bus serving CPS schools will pick up and drop off at points determined by CPS staff. Metro routes serving Walnut Hills High School will drop off directly on school property.
How safe is riding the bus?
Overall, Metro is a very safe system, and Metro has implemented additional protocols to ensure rider safety:
- Security cameras on all buses and at transit centers.
- Community Assistant Officers after school at Transit centers.
- Random Cincinnati Police Department ride-alongs.
- Newest buses feature security monitors so passengers can observe their surroundings in real time while riding
- All buses are in radio contact with Metro’s control center and can contact supervisors and/or law enforcement if necessary.
- Metro has contracted with the Cincinnati Police Department to provide random rides and extra patrols at Government Square and other transit centers throughout the system.
- Any student feeling unsafe is encouraged to notify the bus operator or sit toward the front of the bus.
Who can I call with questions regarding student transportation?
For general questions or concerns, please contact the CPS Transportation Hotline at 513-363-RIDE. If you need assistance with trip planning, you may contact Metro in the following ways:
Call: 513-621-4455
Email: customerservice@go-metro.com
Website: www.go-metro.com
Additionally, Metro staff members will be available for questions and to assist with trip planning during student orientations at each high school. Staff also will be available during the CPS cookout at Washington Park on Aug. 7 and during school orientation sessions (see above).
Student expectations
- While riding, please be courteous of your fellow passengers. Profanity, playing of music without earphones, loud noise and rowdy behavior may result in removal of your riding privileges on Metro.
- CPS bus passes are to be used to travel between home and school on the most direct route available to the student. CPS bus passes are not to be used to travel downtown unless it is required for the commute between school and home. CPS and Metro will be monitoring downtown pass use.
- Using your pass incorrectly may result in the deactivation of your CPS bus pass.