More Red Deerians took the bus on Sept. 22nd, while other residents pledged to walk, take their bikes, or carpool to work for the commuter challenge on World Car Free Day.

Red Deer Transit ridership saw a one per cent increase with an additional 119 people riding the bus on World Car Free Day compared to the previous Thursday. Based on the average commute in Red Deer, participants prevented approximately 304 kg of Carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere. This is equivalent to filling 20 cement-mixing trucks with vehicle emissions.

At the joint World Car Free Day and Feed 500 Event at City Hall Park, approximately 80 Red Deerians signed the pledge to leave their vehicles at home and made the commitment to use alternative transportation.

More than 35 citizens and City staff participated in our surveys and reported their own commuter challenge, with eight per cent choosing to carpool with colleagues, 14% of staff chose to walk to work, 11% rode their bike and 50% took transit.

World Car Free Day is a designated day to explore alternative modes of transportation, reduce greenhouse gases and air pollution, improve health and save money. For more information on our environmental initiatives including our Idle Free policy, visit reddeer.ca/environment. To learn more about carpooling in Red Deer, visit reddeer.ca/carpool.

– Fawcett