Chapel Hill Transit wants more people to ride the buses — and they hope an event happening today will encourage people to do so.
National Dump the Pump Day encourages people to utilize public modes of transportation.
As of Tuesday, 133 transit systems across the country planned to participate in Dump the Pump Day, said Virginia Miller, spokeswoman for the American Public Transportation Association.
“Our main message is that if you take public transportation, you can save money,” she said. “It’s a cost-effective way of helping your budget.”
Miller said a lot of transit systems encourage people to try out public transit by offering free or reduced fare on Dump the Pump Day.
But since Chapel Hill Transit is already free, Brian Litchfield, assistant director for Chapel Hill Transit, said he hopes more people will use the event as a reason to try public transportation.
Litchfield said the high number of rides Chapel Hill Transit gives — about 7 million per year or 28,000 per day — means they aren’t looking for a specific number of new riders today.
“Our feeling is that if we get even one person who’s not currently using public transportation to ride the bus, then it’s a good thing,” he said.
Litchfield said Chapel Hill Transit is the second most-used transit system in the state, behind Charlotte.