N.Va. nixes free buses on bad air days
By: Kytja Weir
Examiner Staff Writer
April 17, 2009
Northern Virginia no longer will offer free bus rides on Code Red bad air days.
Because of funding shortfalls, the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission said Thursday that it had voted to end the program that used federal grants to pay for residents to take public buses instead of driving cars. The program has spent $4 million since 1999 to offer free rides around Northern Virginia to help reduce vehicle emissions on days with Code Red air quality forecasts. Free rides also have been available in the Maryland suburbs.
But a 2007 study for the commission found that less than 4 percent of bus riders would otherwise have driven, translating to an estimated cost of more than $20 per diverted driver.
Stuart Freudberg, the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments environmental program director, said air quality has improved since the program began and it was no longer the sole way of reducing emissions. He said it appears that Montgomery, Prince George’s and Frederick counties will continue the program this season, which is slated to run from May 1 until Sept. 15.
