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Tompkins County climate advocates are urging residents and visitors to park their single-occupancy vehicles and use the bus, bicycles, or their feet to get around on Sat., April 20, in honor of Earth Day 2024.
And thanks to an initiative spearheaded by Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) of Tompkins County, with support from the Park Foundation and TCAT, riding the bus will be free all day. This is extra special because most TCAT buses go to downtown Ithaca, which will be the place to be from noon-5 p.m. on Earth Day.
Riders board the route 30 bus at Green St. Station, TCAT’s hub in the Commons.
That’s when CCE, in collaboration with the City of Ithaca, will host the 2024 Earth Day Festival on the Ithaca Commons, which will feature a number of family-friendly activities, food, music, raffles, and opportunities to learn about local green initiatives, including the Ithaca Green Deal, home electrification, sustainable transportation and agriculture.
CCE staff were able to secure subsidies from the Park Foundation to partially offset the cost of TCAT fares, which are typically $1.50 per ride or $.75 for half fare. To promote the many benefits of public transportation, the TCAT Board of Directors at its regularly scheduled meeting on March 28 unanimously agreed to absorb the remaining costs.
Would-be riders are advised to check out TCAT schedules or use Google Transit for trip planning. Riders also are urged to use TCAT’s Bus Tracker or download the MyStop app for real time information.
To help with data collection, riders with Cornell IDs or those with already activated expiration-based Tcards should swipe their cards as usual on Earth Day as those passes are time-based; rides are not deducted. As always, all youth up to the age of 17 (or older if still enrolled in high school ) ride free. Those 14 and older need to obtain a free-of-charge FreeRyde card from their school, youth organization or TCAT. See TCAT’s FreeRyde page.
All TCAT buses are wheelchair accessible, have Wi-Fi and include bike racks for those who want to go multi-modal by bicycling and using public transit to complete the ir trips.