August 16, 2004

RIDE & ROLL PROGRAM RETURNS
STUDENTS RIDE FREE

The County of Marins student transit program dubbed "Ride & Roll" returns on Monday, August 23, 2004. "Ride & Roll" provides students in grades 6 through 12 free bus tickets valid weekdays, from 6 am to 7 pm, for local travel within Marin County. Golden Gate Transit (GGT) provides the transportation for Ride & Roll on existing bus routes. The 48 public and private participating schools provide the free student bus tickets and schedule information to approximately 17,000 eligible students.

According to Ride and & Roll founder Marin County Supervisor and Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District board member Hal Brown, This program is working-it gets students to and from school, it is helping us to reduce traffic congestion, and kids are getting educated about the benefits of public transit. The program has been growing and we hope it continues. We started with 126,000 free trips taken during the spring semester 2003 and by spring 2004 we were up to 207,000.

Ride & Roll began on February 24, 2003, and was funded through to June 2003 with funds from the Bay Area Air Quality Management Districts Transportation Fund for Clean Air along with funds from County of Marin. The fall 2003 and spring 2004 semesters were funded by the County of Marin, with GGT providing bus service and program administration services.

The cost of the fall 2004 semester will be funded in the amount of $128,000 by the County of Marin to cover the cost of GGT bus operations, GGT ticket printing, and GGT direct marketing to participating schools.

For more information call toll-free 511 (TDD 711).