News Release
April 19, 2007
Virginia Miller
202-496-4816
vmiller@apta.com
(Download In Adobe PDF format)
“Want to help the environment? Ride public transportation.” That’s the message the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) wants the public to know for this year’s Earth Day on Sunday, April 22.
Caring about the environment on Earth Day is important, but people can do things every day of the year to contribute to a better environment,” said APTA President William W. Millar. “Taking public transportation is one thing that millions of Americans do and can do on a regular basis to help improve the environment.”
America’s public transportation systems can play a vital role in creating a healthier nation. Providing significant environmental benefits – by reducing smog-producing pollutants and greenhouse gases – public transportation is helping to meet national air quality standards. Public transportation produces about half as much carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrogen oxide (NOx), per passenger mile, as private vehicles.
A recent report by ICF International, "Public Transportation and Petroleum Savings in the U.S.: Reducing Dependence on Oil," highlighted that U.S. public transportation saves 1.4 billion gallons of gasoline every year. According to this report, 1.4 billion gallons of gasoline is the equivalent of 300,000 cars filling up every day.
Public transportation systems across the country have contributed to improving the environment by utilizing environmentally-friendly buses. This year a number of agencies are highlighting their environmentally-friendly buses and are offering free rides on Earth Day. The following is a sampling of some of the transit related Earth Day announcements and activities across the nation:
Light rail powered by wind, Earth Day Challenge, and free transit trips on Earth Day
Metro Transit (Minneapolis, MN) will power the entire Hiawatha light rail system by wind on Earth Day.
San Mateo County Transit District (San Mateo County, CA) is partnering with the Peninsula Traffic Congestion Relief Alliance to challenge people to use public transportation, bike, walk or carpool at least three times during the week before Earth Day.
RI Public Transit Authority (Providence, RI) will offer free trips on two routes to the Earth Day Festival.
King County Metro and Sound Transit (Seattle, WA) are offering free rides on all buses on Earth Day.
Community Transit (Snohomish County, WA) is offering free bus service to customers on Earth Day.
Muncie Indiana Transit System (Muncie, IN) is offering free bus rides to the local Earth Day event.
Hybrid buses have gained in popularity in recent years with more than 2,000 hybrid buses in service nationwide.
The Rapid (Grand Rapids, MI) will begin to run hybrid-electric buses with the inaugural run on Monday, April 23.
Metropolitan Transportation Authority (New York) will exhibit a hybrid-electric bus at the New York City EarthFair festival and distribute a limited number of free MetroCards.
Metro Transit (Minneapolis, MN) will offer free rides on its 3 hybrid electric buses on Earth Day. (150 hybrid electric buses will be ordered before the end of this year.)
Lane Transit District (Eugene, OR) will have a hybrid bus on display during the Earth Day celebration.
Other alternative, environmentally-friendly transit buses are also in service across the country and will be showcased on Earth Day.
Metro (Cincinnati, OH) will make an announcement that all its buses will run on a 50% soybean based biodiesel blend. (Last year 40% of Metro’s total fuel was biodiesel and it was made from Ohio soybeans.)
Toledo Area Regional Transit Authority (Toledo, OH) will run only biodiesel-fueled buses during its service hours on Earth Day
Phoenix Public Transit (Phoenix, AZ) will be celebrating the first arrival of more than 126 new clean-burning fuel (ultra-low sulfur diesel) buses in a pre-Earth Day event on April 19. They will roll out the “green carpet” with Starbucks as bus riders are served complimentary beverages as they deboard.
Laketran (Painesville, OH) will be demonstrating a Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) bus vehicle and providing details about the benefits of CNG.
Centre Area Transportation Authority (State College, PA) will offer a two-hour Penn State Green Tours on CNG powered buses.
Metro (St. Louis, MO) will showcase a CNG bus and a biodiesel-fueled bus at the local Earth Day event.
Finally, numerous transit agencies will are either sponsors of local Earth Day events or participating in an Earth Day event by offering information about transit and its benefits to the environment. Some additional transit agencies participating in Earth Day events include:
Metropolitan Transit Authority (Nashville, TN)
Regional Transportation Authority (Nashville, TN)
Portage Area Regional Transportation Authority (Kent, OH)
Wave Transit System (Mobile, AL)
South Coast Area Transit (Oxnard, CA)
Via Metropolitan Transit (San Antonio, TX)
Regional Transportation District (Denver, CO)
Clemson Area Transit (Clemson, SC)
Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (Washington, DC)
Wave Transit (Wilmington, NC)
GO Transit (Toronto, ON)
“Earth Day is a day to focus on how we can individually and collectively make a difference,” concluded Millar. “By using public transportation on a regular basis, individuals and communities can make every day an Earth Day.”
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APTA is a nonprofit international association of more than 1,500 member organizations including public transportation systems; planning, design, construction and finance firms; product and service providers; academic institutions; and state associations and departments of transportation. APTA members serve the public interest by providing safe, efficient and economical public transportation services and products. APTA members serve more than 90 percent of persons using public transportation in the United States and Canada.
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