Thursday June 12: Spare the Air

Thursday, June 12 will be a Spare the Air day in the San Francisco Bay Area. Concentrations of ground-level ozone pollution are forecast to be unhealthy tomorrow. Clear skies, hot temperatures, and light winds will combine to produce poor air quality for the Bay Area. Commuters are asked to help prevent smog tomorrow by using public transit, walking or biking to work; using a carpool or vanpool; and telecommuting.

Unlike past years, public transportation is not free. The San Francisco Metropolitan Transportation Commission decided that providing free transit is not a cost effective way to reduce air pollution, with a cost of about $400,000 per ton of reduced emissions.

The SF MTC will provide one final free transit day on Thursday, June 19. With record ridership on all Bay Area transit systems and high demand because of gasoline prices, I’m calling this “avoid Caltrain day.”

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