BART sees big ridership increase on Dump the Pump Day
10,200 more riders took BART than agency predicted
The final numbers show that 10,200 more riders than BART predicted rode the agency's trains during the second annual "National Dump the Pump Day," Thursday, June 21.
BART had originally forecasted that there would be 340,400 riders on June 21, 2007. There were actually 350,600 passengers.
YESTERDAY'S DUMP THE PUMP BART EVENTS
BART held two Dump the Pump events. The first began at 4:45 in the morning at Oakland's Lake Merritt BART Station where BART Board President Lynette Sweet used a big screen TV to show off the BART commercials that encourage people to dump the pump every day. There was also a giant, colorful banner that showed how a typical person riding BART saves 270 gallons per year.
"The average driver spews 44 lbs of global warming pollutants into the air each day," BART Board President Lynette Sweet said. "That means our 10,200 additional riders prevented 440,000 pounds of pollution from clogging our Bay Area's skies."
Later that afternoon, BART rider Kirsten Spoljaric handed out 1,000 free $5 BART tickets to unsuspecting people in San Francisco's Justin Herman Plaza. Spoljaric is just one of the 3,000 new BART riders who continue to ride BART following the reopening of the MacArthur Maze connector ramp. A portion of the maze closed after a tanker truck crashed and exploded on April 29th causing the collapse of a connector ramp, which made it difficult for hundreds of thousands of commuters to get between the East Bay and San Francisco. (Watch BARTtv News Story.)
Commuter Check paid for the 1,000 tickets. The Commuter Check program is an easy way for BART riders to take advantage of the Section 132 of the IRS tax code. This provision can save people more than $500 a year on their BART commute. Visit www.commutercheck.com for details.
ABOUT NATIONAL DUMP THE PUMP DAY
National Dump the Pump Day is a public awareness campaign that emphasizes the environmental benefits of using public transportation. The day also offers the opportunity for people to beat the high price of gasoline and support public transportation as an important travel option that helps reduce our nation's dependence on oil.
More than 100 public transportation agencies nationwide participated yesterday's event, which the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) sponsored.