The Regional Transportation Authority (RTA), along with the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), Metra and Pace, are celebrating Earth Day 2015 by continuing a weeklong campaign to encourage regular transit riders and those who may not use the system’s public transportation system often to ride the system and celebrate its benefits to our planet. Earth Day is officially celebrated on April 22.
Throughout the week of April 20, the RTA and Service Boards are highlighting five ways transit helps the region each day, rounding out the week with a list of all 25 ways transit is benefitting our region and riders. The RTA encourages everyone to share this information on social media pages and remind friends and family about the many benefits of transit to our region.
Today’s five benefits of our region’s transit system are:
Saves Money
- Pace’s conversion to Compresses Natural Gas bus operations will save an estimated $3.5 million in fuel annually.
- The upcoming rehabilitation on 41 Metra locomotives to ‘like new’ condition will reduce annual maintenance costs.
- Transit saves rush-hour drivers $400 a year by reducing the number of cars on the road.
- CTA’s new 5000-series rail cars are estimated to save up to 15 percent in electricity usage as a result of regeneration during braking.
- Individuals who switch from driving to taking public transit can save almost $1,000 a month.
Earth Day is one of the largest events in the world when people of all ages and backgrounds pledge to improve and protect the environment. The first Earth Day, celebrated nearly 45 years ago, on April 22, 1970, activated 20 million Americans from all walks of life and is widely credited with launching the modern environmental movement. The passage of the landmark Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act and many other groundbreaking environmental laws soon followed.
