Between construction, traffic and parking, the drive to work can seem like the longest part of the day. Discover the alternatives at a Transit Fair from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday, Oct. 5, in Mallinckrodt Center.
The fair will promote the concept of alternative transportation -- using public transit, carpools or traveling by bike or on foot -- as both economical and practical. It can save time wasted in traffic snarls and money spent on gasoline and parking. And because automobiles produce 25 percent of the hydrocarbons that lead to ozone pollution in the region, alternative transportation helps reduce the area's air-quality problem -- a hazard noted by the Environmental Protection Agency.
The fair will inaugurate the Guaranteed Ride Home Program on the Hilltop Campus. Highly successful on the Medical Campus, the program ensures carpool participants a free taxi ride home should they need to leave campus early or work late. Information on the program will be available at the event.
For those not already in a carpool, the not-for-profit group RideFinders will be at the fair to help. RideFinders assists in setting up carpools by using a computer database to match participants based on their working hours, where they live and where they work.
Pledge cards also will be available at the fair for people to sign up to try an alternative form of transportation for one week, be it carpooling, taking MetroLink or Bi-State bus, bicycling or walking to work. Those completing pledge cards will be entered into a regionwide drawing for several prizes, including a weekend getaway for two in Hermann, Mo.; a mountain bike; tickets to the St. Louis Rams and the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra; and movie passes.
For more information on the fair, call 935-8667.
If you can't make the Transit Fair on Oct. 5, the following resources can provide information on transportation alternatives:
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