Peninsula Moves!

By WIll Reisman, @WillReisman

Bay Area residents who take transit, bike, walk or carpool to SamTrans, Caltrain and the San Mateo County Transportation Authority (TA) board meetings could receive special prizes for their attendance.

The three agencies are partnering with the San Mateo County Spare the Air Resource team on a program aimed at incentivizing people to take travel modes other than automobiles to local meetings.  Eligible who attend the board meetings can enter into a drawing for a chance to win Spare the Air laptop bags and reusable tote bags. They’ll also be entered into a county-wide drawing for an even larger prize, valued at more than $100.

The three agencies, which are managed by the San Mateo County Transit District, premiered their programs at their respective board meetings this month. Car-free attendees at the event had the opportunity to fill out an information card and drop it off in a ballot box stationed at the meetings. The information cards were collected after each meeting, and a random name was plucked out of the box for their free Spare the Air bag. Each person that participated in the event became eligible to win the larger prize, which will be announced at the end of the year.

SamTrans, Caltrain and the TA will continue to participate in the program until next June. The agencies will be making announcement about the program via their various social media outlets prior to each board meeting. SamTrans meets on the first Wednesday of each month at the Transit District’s headquarters in San Carlos. Caltrain and the TA meet on the first Thursday of each month at the same location.

The San Mateo County Spare the Air resource team is one of nine community outreach groups overseen by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District.  The groups are comprised of people from the business, non-profit, and government sectors whose together to create and implement projects to promote better air quality in the Bay Area.