Every March as the trees come to life and the grass gets a little greener, the City of Turlock puts an emphasis on making more environmentally conscious choices in daily life. This year, along with educating local students about the benefits of “going green,” the City will offer free bus service for one week in March.

The City will present educational and eco-friendly activities for local students to participate in and learn more about “going green” March 9-13.

Then, in an effort to reduce air pollution, the four transit providers in Stanislaus County — including Ceres Area Transit (CAT), Modesto Area Express (MAX), Stanislaus County Regional Transit (StaRT) and Turlock Transit — will provide rides on all fixed route buses for free during Go Green Week, March 15-21.

The free ride promotion includes MAX to BART Commuter Express, MAX to ACE Commuter Express, and StaRT’s BART Commuter bus services, but excludes ADA Paratransit, Medivan, and Dial-a-Ride services.

Funding for the joint, free ride promotion is made possible through a grant from the California Department of Transportation under the Low Carbon Transit Operations Program.

“We’re excited to coordinate our efforts with our regional partners to make it easier than ever for all County residents to experience the benefits of transit, particularly for those residents that have never stepped foot on a bus before,” said Wayne York, transit manager for Turlock Transit. “We look forward to showing the public how using public transit can be a positive, cost-effective transportation alternative to single-occupant motor vehicles.”

The goal of the free ride promotion is to reduce the use of single occupant vehicles in an effort to reduce traffic congestion, pollution and countless hours wasted on freeways. In addition to this free ride promotion, regional transit operators plan to coordinate additional free ride promotional opportunities through June under the same LCTOP grant program. These promotional periods include Bike to Work Week (May 2020) and Dump the Pump Day (June 2020).

Residents are encouraged to make the most of this free ride promotion by planning their trips in advance. Turlock Transit’s official transit planning app is Transit. The free Transit mobile app offers many features to help residents get around the Turlock region, including quick access to accurate real-time transit information and live maps with vehicle locations. In addition, the Transit mobile app also contains a real-time trip planner to help users compare the travel time and price of a variety of transportation options, including walking, biking, transit, rideshare and more. Riders can download the Transit mobile app from the Apple App Store for iOS devices, Google Play for Android devices, or by visiting http://transitapp.com.

For more information on Turlock Transit and its services, visit www.turlocktransit.com or call (209) 668-5600.