We’d like to thank everyone who helped us make our RideClear Summer 2014 program a success. Throughout June, July and early August, we recorded nearly 25,000 boardings using RideClear cards. More than 6,000 people registered for RideClear passes online or received a pass through our summer 2014 RideClear sponsor, the Salt Lake Board of REALTORS®.

RideClear passes are good for seven days of free public transportation on UTA trains and buses. The program is designed to encourage residents to leave cars at home and help improve air quality by opting for public transportation. The UTA planning department estimates that passengers using RideClear cards helped take 14,308 cars off the road and prevent 67 tons of vehicle emission pollutants from being released into the atmosphere.

RideClear air quality statistics courtesy of the UTA planning department.

“This initiative clearly shows that people in our community care about improving air quality,” said UTA General Manager Michael Allegra. “We’re enthusiastic about how frequently RideClear passes were used and hope it helps introduce new riders to an environmentally-friendly mode of transit.”

Many Wasatch Front residents associate air pollution with winter inversions, but dirty air also creates summertime health concerns. Pollutants emitted in vehicle exhaust combine with hot temperatures and stagnate air, causing ozone levels to rise. When the amount of ozone in the valley reaches dangerous levels, it can aggravate respiratory conditions like asthma and bronchitis and make lungs more susceptible to infection.

The summer 2014 RideClear initative is one of three RideClear programs UTA has hosted in the past year to help improve air quality. Since June 2013, UTA has given away more than 18,000 RideClear passes good for seven free days of public transit.

UTA would like to thank the Salt Lake Board of REALTORS® for their generous support. For more information about future RideClear giveaways, follow us on Facebook and Twitter.