[E-updates] Celebrate Communities in Motion Day with Free Rides on the "T"

[Bobbie Walthall]

NEWS RELEASE          City of Lawrence, KS


 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 30, 2005

Contact:            Cliff Galante, Public Transit Administrator, 832-3464

 

Celebrate Communities in Motion Day with Free Rides on the "T"

 

(Lawrence, KS) - On Thursday, October 6, 2005, the Lawrence Transit System will join in the national celebration of Communities in Motion Day by providing FREE ridership to its riders as appreciation for supporting public transit.  The Communities in Motion Celebration is to promote, educate, and celebrate the benefits of public transportation. 

 

In 2004, Kansans took more than 8 million trips by public transportation according to the Kansas Department of Transportation.  Lawrence Transit System provided 377,519 rides in 2004.  Lawrence citizens have taken 309,194 trips on the Lawrence Transit System from January to September 21, 2005.  

 

Public transportation benefits the community by increasing mobility, stimulating economic development, creating jobs, easing traffic congestion and reduces energy consumption.  Americans use more energy for transportation than for any other activity.  Nearly 43 percent of America's energy resources are used in transportation.  If Americans used public transportation the same rate as Europeans, for roughly 10 percent of their daily travel needs, the U.S. would:

*	Reduce its dependence on imported oil by more than 40 percent or nearly the amount of oil we import from Saudi Arabia each year. 
*	Save more energy every year than all the energy used by the U.S. petrochemical industry and nearly equal the energy used to produce food in the U.S. 
*	Reduce CO2 emissions by more than 25 percent of the Kyoto Agreement mandate. 
*	Reduce CO pollution by three times the combined levels emitted by the four highest-polluting industries (chemical manufacturing, oil and gas production, metals processing, and industrial use of coal).

(Conserving Energy and Preserving the Environment: The Role of Public Transportation," Robert J. Shapiro, Kevin A. Hassett, and Frank S. Arnold, 2002.)

Public Transportation fosters more livable communities by creating areas where people can drive less or walk. When citizens ride public transportation or walk, face-to-face contact with neighbors tends to increase, which works to bring a community closer. According to a 2003 Wirthlin Worldwide poll, four in five Americans or 81 percent agree that increased investment in public transportation would strengthen the economy, create jobs, reduce traffic congestion and air pollution and save energy.  

 

Transit routes travel throughout Lawrence.  Public Transportation's benefits are that it is safe and dependable.  Celebrate Communities in Motion Day by riding the "T" to businesses, educational institutions and employment areas for Free on Thursday, October 6, 2005  For assistance with trip planning call 312-7054 or visit  <http://www.lawrencetransit.org/> www.lawrencetransit.org to see a route map and timetable.

 

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