Let Someone Else Do the Driving
Let Someone Else Do the Driving

It is simple, public transportation gets cars off the road. All of us benefit from increased investment in, and use of, public transportation as it takes pressure off of the fuel supply and reduces pollution, thus protecting the environment, increasing fuel security, and promoting better health. In addition, using public transport can save you money and reduce your travel time. If you have a choice between using the bus or rail and driving, take public transportation.

DID YOUR KNOW?

  • If all Americans who take public transit to work drove alone, they would fill a nine-lane freeway from Boston to Los Angeles.
  • For every passenger mile traveled, public transportation is twice as fuel efficient as private automobiles.
  • Public transportation usage reduces U.S. gasoline consumption by 1.4 billion gallons each year—or the equivalent of 108 million cars filling up, almost 300,000 each day.
  • For every passenger mile traveled, public transportation produces only 5% as much carbon monoxide, less than 8% as many volatile organic compounds, and nearly half as much carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxides as automobile traffic.
  • If you leave your car at home one day a week, you prevent 55 pounds of pollution from being emitted into our air each year.
  • Households that are likely to use public transportation on a given day save over $6,200 every year.
  • Public transportation ridership increased by nearly 3% in the first nine months of 2006, as Americans took 7.8 billion trips on public transit.
  • Federal law lets workers receive up to $110 a month in employer-paid tax-free transit costs, or take up to $110 a month in tax-sheltered payroll deductions for transit costs.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

  • Take public transportation whenever possible.
  • Consider leaving your car at home one day a week. It is a small way to have a big impact.
  • Take public transport to or from airports, concerts, sporting events, and other locations where parking is expensive and difficult to obtain.
  • If your journey to or from a bus/train stop is a little too far to walk, use your bike, as most buses and trains accommodate bikes.
  • Park and ride rather than driving the entire distance of your commute.

RESOURCES