August 24, 2009

America On Wheels Puts Focus On Automotive Advertising Art

August 28, 2009, is Try Transit Day, sponsored by CAT-Coalition for Appropriate Transportation, LANTA, the Lehigh Valley-Berks Air Quality Partnership and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. The purpose of Try Transit Day is to encourage people who have never tried public transportation to ride the LANTA bus. You can see a slide show about Try Transit Day on the CAT website, www.car-free.org.

Show your support for public transportation by trying the LANTA bus on Try Transit Day, the last Friday of every month. This month our theme destination is the America on Wheels Museum. On Friday, August 28, 2009, the America on Wheels Museum will offer a discount to bus riders: any adult arriving by LANTA can experience the 45 minute America on Wheels Museum tour for $5, a savings of $2; children, ages 6-16 are $3.50, children under 6 are free. The America on Wheels Museum is open 10 AM to 4 PM on weekdays.

A special America on Wheels Museum LANTA circulator bus will leave the Allentown Transportation Center every 20 minutes, traveling up Linden Street to the PPL building, at Ninth and Court Streets, then traveling down Hamilton Street to the American on Wheels Museum at Front Street, making stops as necessary to pick up or discharge riders at each block. The bus will also bring Museum visitors back along Hamilton and Linden Streets to the bus terminal at Sixth and Linden Streets every 20 minutes.

Downtown Allentown Employers are encouraged to allow their employees an hour and half for lunch if they show their ticket for America on Wheels upon return from lunch. We ask downtown Allentown employers to encourage your employees through any appropriate internal communciations, to use the bus to visit the America on Wheels Museum on Try Transit Day, Friday, August 28, 2009. An inexpensive lunch will be available. An all-day pass on LANTA is $2.50 (please have exact change).

TRY TRANSIT DAY SPONSORED BY

ADVANTAGES TO PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION
Public transportation provides great benefits to everyone.

Safer than driving a car: Riding the bus increases your chances of arriving at your destination safely. The National Safety Council reports that riding the bus is 170 times safer than driving or riding in a car.

Using public transportation reduces stress and is healthier. Read a book, listen to music, or talk with a neighbor and leave the driving to LANTA! Less stress means less chance of heart disease and strokes. The short walks to and from the bus can make a real difference to your body, too. Studies show that our increased dependence on automobiles—particularly for trips to places near our homes—is a significant factor in obesity and global warming.

Much better for our environment: Public transit produces less pollution. Buses produce 95% less carbon monoxide per passenger mile than private vehicles. Riding the bus increases energy efficiency. Public transit is twice as efficient as private automobiles. Right now, using public transportation saves 45 million barrels of oil each year. Increased bus ridership means less space needed for parking spaces. Space for landscaping, retail, residential development, and other more desirable land uses could replace the hot pavement, painted lines, and long walks. These facts and figures are from the American Public Transportation Associations "Facts on Public Transportation" available at http://www.apta.com.

Easier and cheaper than driving your car. You'll experience less traffic congestion on LANTA, and you won't have to search for parking. With a little planning, you can replace many of the trips you make right now by car with public transportation. With today's high gas prices, you can save a lot of money by riding LANTA. Individual savings will vary, of course, depending on the length of the trip, but do the math based on what you're spending for gas. You'll discover that riding the bus could save you significant money over time. For even more savings - buy a Fare Saver Ticket! See http://www.lantabus.org for details on discount fares.

FACTS ABOUT LANTA
LANTA operates a network of 30 fixed bus routes throughout the Lehigh Valley providing daily, late evening, Saturday, and Sunday services. Chances are good you live within walking distance of a LANTA Metro fixed route.

LANTA provided more than 5.25 million safe, economical, environmentally friendly transit trips over the last year.

Currently more than half of all bus riders are on their way to or from work.

LANTA's Metro Plus division arranges special door-to-door service for people with disabilities and the elderly who cannot ride the regular Metro fixed route system. Metro Plus dispatches more than 100 accessible vans and mini-buses daily. Metro Plus arranged more than 400,000 trips last year.

HOW YOU CAN HELP IMPROVE PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION
You can help improve public transportation just by riding the LANTA bus, any bus. If everyone in the Lehigh Valley rode the bus once a month, LANTA would have twice the farebox income each year. By riding the bus you become part of the solution to congestion, pollution and road construction costs. By riding the bus you become a participant in the effort to change our transportation system and to provide better options for everyone.

For information about specific buses or routes call LANTA 610 776-RIDE. For information about Metro Plus call 610 432-3200. For personal assistance with other questions about riding the bus or to arrange a "Bus Buddy" for you or your group's first bus trip call the CAT office at 610 954-5744 or email cat@car-free.org. Experienced bus riders who would like to become a "Bus Buddy" should call or email the CAT office today.

On Try Transit Day, the last Friday of the every month, CAT makes a special effort to get new riders to try public transportation. There are theme destinations, special discounts and other incentives to try public transportation on Try Transit Day.

One way you can help after trying public transportation is to write about your experience on the Try Transit Day blog.

Become an advocate for public transportation just by riding the bus. Make the smart choice and use LANTA.

For More Information:
Linda Merkel - Executive Director
America On Wheels Museum
5 N. Front St. Allentown, PA
(610) 432-4200
director@americaonwheels.org
www.americaonwheels.org