This week is an Ozone Awareness Week in Omaha.
It’s the second of three such weeks during the summer months. Bus fares are 50 cents for one-way travel, with 25 cent transfers. Ozone Awareness Week is in conjunction with a campaign known as Little Steps, Big Impact. Greg Youell, executive director of the Metropolitan Area Planning Agency, says there are other actions metro area residents can take to reduce ground-level ozone pollution.
"It can affect people with respiratory issues, that includes children, seniors, and also other people, asthmatics, and others with respiratory issues. So this is one of the things people can do, taking public transit to reduce the emissions that would come out of their vehicles. Also people want to wait until the cooler hours of the day to fuel up their vehicles, or to mow their lawns, or even wait until the next day."
The reduced bus fares are in place through Thursday. Youell says during Ozone Awareness Week in June, ridership on city buses increased by 12,000.
More information is available at www.littlestepsbigimpact.com.