It's Spare the Air Day on Tuesday - But No Free Transit

Word from our air pollution specialists from the State is that a "Spare the Air Day" has been declared for the SF Bay Area tomorrow (Tuesday).

While there's no real law forcing you to curtail your polluting ways (passing gas?), you should try to curb some of your usual acts of polluting the planet for at least one day:

1. BBQ with coal or wood.
2. Gas powered lawn mower.
3. Driving your car.
4. Reducing energy use (some of your electricity comes from plants that emit carbon dioxide).

Try taking public transit for one day.

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As always, this is the complaint department, so it makes me wonder why don't we have "free transit days" anymore?

The biggest complaints about the free days is that lazy people will ride the bus just for one stop, people encouraged to illegally board the rear doors, the annoying teenagers with nothing better to do has held-up buses and trains in the Bay Area, and the smelly unpleasant people are sleeping on the vehicles.

Sure, the budget is in a terrible wreck, but what if the money was restored? Would there be free rides?

I would say, they should change the policy and reduce transit fares to half-price. Instead of a $2 Muni ride, it's just a buck. That reduces or prevents lazy folks for taking a super short trip and the unpleasant people not scoring a free ride. If a transit agency can double their ridership for one day to make-up for the reduction in fare cost, they may be able to retain those people the next day when prices return to normal.