Published Monday, September 25, 2006, by the San Mateo Daily Journal

Column

Spare the air or spare the cash?

By Sue Lempert

This year the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and the Bay
Area Air Quality Management District provided free rides all day on
the first six Spare the Air days in June and July (There were no
funds to provide free rides in August and September). Twenty-six
transit operators participated (including BART, Caltrain and
SamTrans). The cost: $13.3 million for advertisements and fares.
The goal: to reduce air pollution and increase transit ridership
on especially hot smoggy days when emission levels are expected to
exceed federal limits.

MTC and the Air District were satisfied with the results: Transit
ridership increased by approximately 15 percent region-wide,
resulting in an additional 227,700 riders. Emissions were reduced
although national ozone standards were exceeded on four of the six
Spare the Air days. There's a penalty if you have too many of these
bad emission days -- loss of federal highway funds. In a telephone
poll, 49 percent of respondents said they would be more likely to
ride transit on Spare the Air days if it were free.

Critics say the costs were too high compared to other methods of
reducing air pollution, about $10 for each new transit rider. No one
knows whether the program attracted new riders on a permanent basis.
Other Air District programs, such as buying and crushing old smog-
producing cars and replacing the engines of aging diesel school
buses reduce smog at a lesser cost and are long lasting. One critic
suggested a summer driving fuel surcharge to discourage auto use on
hot days; the surcharge revenue would help fund free transit on bad
days.

Transit operators and transit users liked the program but may prefer
it is used in the future only at peak travel times. BART commuters
complained about passengers riding the trains all day just to stay
cool and creating noise, litter and discomfort for the regulars.
Ferries saw the greatest increase: for example, ridership on the
Golden Gate Sausalito ferry was up 350 percent. MTC and the Air
District will be evaluating results from this year. But the program
may be a little different in the future.

[...]

Sue Lempert is the former mayor of San Mateo. Her column runs every
Monday. She can be reached at sue@...