Yess" onload="show_notes_initially();" class="reflect" align="left" height="152" hspace="5" width="201">Michael Cabanatuan of the SF Chronicle reports that use of mass transit was way up on the first 2 spare the air days of 2006.On the first Spare the Air Day, BART reported that 33,000 more passengers than usual rode its trains -- an increase of about 10 percent over a typical Thursday. Ferries also saw large jumps in the number of passengers. Golden Gate Ferry experienced a 60 percent jump in ridership, while the Sausalito ferry saw a 200 percent increase in the number of people taking rides.
Of course, the fact that public transportation was FREE on those days might have had a little something to do with the increase in ridership.
The Metropolitan Transportation Commission has ponied up almost $7 million and the the Bay Area Air Quality Management District is kicking in $900,000 to fund free public transportation on the first 3 "Spare the Air" days of the year. A Spare the Air day is a hot wind-free day predicted to exceed federal clean air standards.
Monday June 23rd will be the third Spare The Air day and most definitely not the last. Unfortunately, it WILL be last of the free transit days unless millions of dollars suddenly pour down from the cloudless sky. This could be a very particulate-filled summer.
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