For one day out of the year, Norman residents can enjoy free transportation, courtesy of the city’s public transportation system. But is this initiative enough to reduce our carbon footprint or make a dent in the emissions we create?
Unfortunately, it doesn’t. But it is a step in the right direction.
The program, which takes place every third Thursday of June nationwide, offers riders across the country a chance to save money, reduce pollution and a way to get out of the heat. But as green initiatives go, people usually don’t think of Norman as a city with a great public transportation system.
With the success of “Dump the Pump Day,” CART should consider extending the pedestrian holiday or giving citizens a chance to enjoy a day of free rides throughout the year. Not only will this save people money, but it will offer publicity to CART, bringing more riders and participants in public transportation, truly denting our greenhouse gas emissions.
By offering prizes like a Nintendo Wii and OU football tickets, CART already has generated a buzz that should bring more people to ride. It did last year. According to CART spokesman Kris Glenn, daily ridership increased by 14 percent.
With gas prices and temperatures rising once again, the citizens of Norman should take advantage of this free day, understand its mission and change their lifestyles to truly create a difference. It’s not the thought that counts, it’s the actions of the people of Norman who take advantage of this opportunistic event.
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JJanowiak 2 years, 11 months ago
Norman's CART system is fairly toothless as a way to efficiently shuttle actual residents around town as opposed to college students. There's nothing wrong with it participating in Dump the Pump but given how unusual our system with the kind of funding it receives and population it serves, we shouldn't be looking for it to serve the city's greening problems.
In fact, since ridership is so low during the summer, is CART actually saving energy by running empty or nearly empty buses on primarily student routes during the summer?