Free Bus Rides All Day Thursday

ALTOONA, BLAIR COUNTY -   A national effort to encourage people to use public transportation could pay off for anyone willing to ride the bus.   Thursday, June 17th marks the fifth annual Dump the Pump Day. This national effort is sponsored by the American Public Transportation Association and is an effort to get  motorist to leave their gas guzzling vehicles at home, at least for one day, and utilize public transportation instead.

Organizers of the effort say there are significant environmental and financial benefits for driving less.  And, that's why public transportation officials are hoping the public will use this one day to ride the bus. To encourage more people to explore their public transportation options, a number of local transit agencies in Central Pennsylvania are allowing riders to ride for free on Thursday.

General Manager of  the Altoona area public bus company, Amtran, says that coordination efforts have been put together to promote the day, and they along with Camtran in Johnstown, Cata in State College and Du-fast in Dubois will be allowing people to ride for free. The goal is to encourage new and prospective customers to give riding public transportation a try.  Bus patrons may ride on all regular bus routes offered by these agencies free of charge on Thursday. Organizers say the new riders may find they enjoy taking the bus, and could save a lot of money by using public transportation.