Spare the Air/Free Transit:

A new incarnation of the Bay Area’s popular Spare the Air/Free Transit program kicked off last month with the official June 1 start of the summer smog season. Thanks to $8.5 million from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, a record 29 separate transit systems from all nine Bay Area counties will provide free commutes on up to four Spare the Air weekdays through October 12.

Buses wrapped with Spare-the-Air ads gathered at a San Francisco press conference to announce the start of the regional free-ride campaign. Photo by Noah Berger

New Twist for Growing Summertime Tradition

By John Goodwin  
Published: July, 2007 

The free rides will be offered the first four times the Air District issues a Spare the Air advisory on a non-holiday weekday. Free transit will be available on BART, Caltrain, Altamont Commuter Express (ACE) and Bay Area ferries until 1 p.m., and all day on the region’s bus and light-rail systems, including VTA and Muni Metro. Due to heightened security requirements around AT&T Park in San Francisco and expected heavy passenger loads on many transit systems during Major League Baseball’s All Star Game festivities, free transit will not be provided if the Air District declares a Spare the Air Day on July 9 or July 10.

Transit ridership jumped an average of 15 percent on Spare the Air/Free Transit days last summer, observed MTC Commissioner and Orinda City Council Member Amy Worth. And some of the ferry and rail systems recorded much higher numbers. This led to overcrowding, scheduling delays and security problems on some lines. So this year, we’ve fine-tuned the program to meet these challenges. By limiting free rides on BART, Caltrain, ACE and the ferries to passengers who board before 1 p.m., we expect to cut down on the overcrowding and unruly behavior that occurred last year, particularly on trips from downtown San Francisco back to the East Bay, Marin and the Peninsula.

Now in its fifth summertime run, the Spare the Air/Free Transit program has added more participating transit agencies each year and is now the largest of its kind in the nation. During the 2006 Spare the Air campaign, nearly 10 percent of Bay Area drivers reduced at least one automobile trip on Spare the Air days, up from 7 percent in 2005.

One of the most effective ways residents can help protect public health, the climate and air quality in the Bay Area is to make everyday clean air choices like driving less and riding transit instead, said Jack Broadbent, Air District executive officer. The Spare the Air/Free Transit incentive provides the public an opportunity to try transit and decrease their dependence on cars — the Bay Area’s number one source of air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.

This is a major accomplishment given that not driving for just one day avoids almost one pound of smog-forming pollution and 30 pounds of greenhouse gasses, said MTC Executive Director Steve Heminger. As the largest free transit program in the country, the Spare the Air free transit initiative is leading the way in mobilizing residents to slow the effects of climate change.

The Air District declares a Spare the Air day when it forecasts ground-level ozone concentrations to reach unhealthy levels. This situation occurs in summer months when temperatures soar and oxides of nitrogen and volatile organic compounds (typically emitted by cars and other mobile sources) recombine through a complex chemical reaction to form ozone. Ozone, a colorless, odorless gas, is very irritating to the respiratory system and can cause lung damage with repeated exposure.