Contact: Esther Bowring, 240-777-6530
Carolyn Biggins, 240-777-5800
For Immediate Release: September 26, 2001

Duncan Announces New Ride On Transit Initiative;
Free I-270 Commuter Service to Begin October 8

Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan today announced the start of a new transit initiative that will offer free rides to County employees, college students, and employees of private businesses on the County’s Ride On buses. Duncan also unveiled a new ad campaign to promote free bus service on six commuter routes along the I-270 corridor. The program will test whether free or reduced fare rides increase transit use and reduce congestion in high-traffic corridors.

“Encouraging more people to use public transportation is a critical part of our multi-faceted approach to reducing traffic congestion,” said Duncan. “We are making it even easier for County employees, college and university students, and employees of participating businesses to lead the way – showing how convenient and relaxing it is to take public transportation to work. Using transit benefits everyone in the community, even those who cannot use public transportation, by cutting pollution and congestion, and enhancing our quality of life.”

The County will try to secure a commitment from Montgomery College to add a transportation charge to student fees in exchange for unlimited free rides on Ride On. Employers interested in providing the free ride transit benefit to their employees will be asked to pay the County an annual fee. Starting November 12, County employees using the new free ride program will use special photo identification cards to board a County Ride On bus. By 2004, photo identification cards or special passes that employees and students use to board the buses should be replaced by SmarTrip cards.

The free rides for college students program supplements the County’s “Kids Ride Free” program that allows kids to ride free on Ride On every weekday between 2 and 7 p.m. using a special student pass or school picture identification card.

At today’s event, Duncan also premiered a new advertising campaign with the theme “Free Wheeling Days” to promote the free fares and specially-priced pilot projects focused on the I-270 corridor that begin on October 8* and continue until June 30, 2002. The ad campaign will consist of newspaper, cable television, and radio ads; flyers distributed to residents in the Germantown area; and community events. The six Ride On routes that will be free are Routes 70, 72, 73, 75, 77, and 79. A reduced fare of $1.00 (each way) will be offered on the Maryland Transit Administration’s (MTA) commuter Route 991. Fares will be reduced to $.50 (each way) on Metrobus routes J8/J9, from Lakeforest to Bethesda, and the SmartMover in Montgomery County (14C and 14D only).

The County will reimburse the Washington Area Metropolitan Transit Administration (Metro) and MTA for the fare difference. Montgomery County Council Vice President Steve Silverman pushed for funding for the new free and reduced fare pilot projects last spring.

“We need to provide additional traffic congestion relief now so folks can spend less time on the road and more time with their families,” said Silverman. “When more people use mass transit, we all win – even if our situation may not allow us to do so. That’s because it takes more people off the road.”

For more information about Ride On’s schedules and service, contact the County’s Transit Information Center at 240-777-7433 (RIDE) or check the website at www.RideOnbus.com. Ride On passes can be purchased online. To obtain information about carpooling, call 301-770-POOL.

*NOTE: The first day of the new free fare service, October 8, is a Federal holiday. Routes 72, 73, and 75 will operate on a Saturday supplemental service holiday schedule. There is no service that day on Routes 70, 77, and 79.