Free bus ride program helps community.Byline: GUEST VIEWPOINT By Bobby Green For The Register-Guard Transportation affects our community's quality of life in many ways - the air we breathe, the safety of our families, our wallets, and how quickly and efficiently we get where we need to go. By embracing creative advances in transportation, we can enhance our community's livability - such advances relieve traffic congestion The condition of a network when there is not enough bandwidth to support the current traffic load. congestion - When the offered load of a data communication path exceeds the capacity. , improve air quality, achieve greater safety, provide mobility for disadvantaged groups and bolster the region's economic competitiveness. Commuter Solutions' Smart Ways to School Transit Pass Program is a local program doing exactly that. As students head back to school, Lane Transit District A transit district or transit authority is a special-purpose district organized as either a corporation chartered by statute, or a government agency, created for the purpose of providing public transportation within a specific region. buses will be there to take them along for the ride - free of charge - through the Student Transit Pass Program. The Student Transit Pass Program is the result of an exemplary collaboration among public and private partners. It's funded by the Oregon Department of Energy through a business energy tax credit involving Pacific Continental Bank, Commuter Solutions, the Lane Council of Governments and LTD LTD 1 Laron-type dwarfism 2 Leukotriene D 3 Long-term depression, see there 4. Long-term disability . It truly represents a win-win for all involved. Pacific Continental Bank is able to further its mission of supporting initiatives for young people while being guaranteed that its tax dollars are used locally to benefit the entire community. Lane Council of Governments, LTD and Commuter Solutions are able to advance the role of public transit in improving community livability. The Oregon Department of Energy is able to advance its goal of conserving fuel consumption. Smart Ways to School provides free services (O.Eng. Law) such feudal services as were not unbecoming the character of a soldier or a freemen to perform; as, to serve under his lord in war, to pay a sum of money, etc. See also: Free to help kindergarten through 12th-grade students and their families carpool car·pool n. also car pool 1. An arrangement whereby several participants or their children travel together in one vehicle, the participants sharing the costs and often taking turns as the driver. 2. to school or form groups of students who can walk or bike together. Demand for the program is growing. Greater participation will help our community and its families. Last year, the Student Transit Pass Program served 22,000 middle school and high school students in Eugene and Springfield. Now in its second year, the program has been expanded to include about 5,000 more students attending schools in Junction City Junction City, city (1990 pop. 20,604), seat of Geary co., NE Kans., at the confluence of the Republican and Smoky Hill rivers; inc. 1859. The rail, trade, and processing center of an agricultural and dairy area, it grew as the supply point for nearby Fort Riley, , Cottage Grove Cottage Grove, village (1990 pop. 22,935), Washington co., SE Minn., near the St. Croix River; inc. 1965. There is farming (cattle, sheep, corn, and soybeans) and manufacturing (chemicals and machinery). , Veneta and McKenzie Bridge. It is estimated that half of the 12 percent increase in LTD's total boardings last year can be attributed to the Student Transit Pass Program. Not only does the Student Transit Pass Program provide free transportation for thousands of young people, it also supports the transportation objectives of all area governments and transportation agencies by helping to reduce fuel consumption, alleviate school-related traffic and improve air quality. True sustainability is the balancing of social, economic and environmental objectives for the benefit of all, and this program and others offered through Smart Ways to School get at the very heart of the meaning of sustainability. As chairman of the Metropolitan Policy Committee - the governing body Noun 1. governing body - the persons (or committees or departments etc.) who make up a body for the purpose of administering something; "he claims that the present administration is corrupt"; "the governance of an association is responsible to its members"; "he that identifies high-priority transportation projects for the area - I'm encouraged by the commitment of Commuter Solutions and its program to help advance transportation goals in our area. The Student Transit Pass Program and the other Smart Ways to School services http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Schools_Collection_May_2007_2.JPGSchool Services are a business unit of the National Library of New Zealand (Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa). They provide curriculum and advisory services to support New Zealand schools. are great examples of what we can achieve by working together. A little creativity and collaboration can go a long way in adding to our community's enviable en·vi·a·ble adj. So desirable as to arouse envy: "the enviable English quality of being able to be mute without unrest" Henry James. quality of life, and I'm proud to be part of a process that demonstrates the community-mindedness of Lane County organizations, agencies and businesses. Bobby Green represents north Eugene on the Lane County Board of Commissioners and is chairman of the Metropolitan Policy Committee. |
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