There’s a DARE in the AIR! The Air Quality Partnership of the Susquehanna Valley Dares all Commuters in Central PA to Share Their Ride this summer.

The Share the Ride Challenge is a contest to motivate an increased number of people in the Susquehanna Valley to “share the ride” via carpooling, vanpooling and public transportation thus reducing ground level ozone, particle pollution and congested roads while saving money on commuting expenses.

Through September 30, during the peak ozone season, commuters in Cumberland, Dauphin, Lancaster, Lebanon, and York Counties are dared to share their ride by carpooling or riding the bus at least 10 times.

Individuals can open an account at www.sharetheridechallenge.com. Logging ride sharing activities takes only a few minutes and qualifies commuters for a host of great prizes. Businesses can become proponents of change by daring their staff to participate in the Challenge with the easy-to-use business tools section.

Dare to do something about the quality of our air! Taken together the individual acts of ride sharing during last year’s Challenge reduced air pollution by 1.27 tons! That is 196 individuals logging thousands of ride sharing activities resulting in more than 97,000 miles being taken off the roads.

Contributing to the improvement of the air is the Transit Authorities. "Think about it," said Dave Kilmer, Executive Director of RRTA, "the more people riding the bus, the less pollution going into the air. That is why we want to see the Challenge grow!" Richard Farr, Director of rabbittransit agreed, "if the bus has even 15 people on it, that is equivalent to taking 13 vehicles off the roads. It may be something new for a lot of people, but that is why the Dare to Share campaign is so intriguing."

"We are taking the Challenge a step farther this year," said Mike Ridgeway of the Air Quality Partnership, creators of the Challenge. "In hopes of exponential air quality improvement, we are asking participants to dare three friends to join," explained Ridgeway.

"The Lancaster Chamber is pleased to support the Share the Ride Challenge again this year," said Chamber President Tom Baldrige. "The Challenge is an excellent way to increase ride-sharing activities and reduce air pollution and roadway congestion this summer. We encourage regional businesses in Central Pennsylvania to participate and do their part to help the environment."

30 businesses across Central PA dared to make a difference last year. Two of those businesses were the Mennonite Central Committee of Lancaster and York County Planning Commission:

"The Share the Ride Challenge was fun. We really got into it. There are about 10 of us who consistently ride the bus now, before just a few people did it once in a while. We will definitely be doing it again this year," said Amos Stoltzfus, one of 66 employees at the Mennonite Central Committee who participated in the 2007 Share the Ride Challenge.

"We have a small office and our staff are somewhat spread out geographically, but we made it work," said George Barnock, of York County Planning Commission. "The Challenge was just the motivation we needed! Three or four of us met and we alternated vehicles each time. By the end of the summer, we all saved lots of money with gas prices being so high."

For more information on the Share the Ride Challenge visit www.SharetheRideChallenge.com.

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