Community Impact: 7,000 free 31-day bus passes

On Nov. 16, members from several community groups fighting homelessness stood outside the Texas Harm Reduction Alliance center to celebrate securing nearly 7,000 free 31-day bus passes for unhoused Austinites.

The passes—which will be available for the next six months—were distributed to over 40 different organizations, including THRA, Sunrise Homeless Navigation Center and Trinity Center. THRA alone gave out 56 bus passes on the first day of the program.

These groups have been working to provide unhoused Austinites free transportation since spring 2019, when Sunrise Homeless Navigation Center formed an advocacy group to conduct surveys and assess the need for transportation in Austin.