Friday is World Car Free Day, encouraging motorists to give up their cars for a day and utilize other forms of transportation like walking, biking and public transit.
UNR graduate student Jayanti Sarkar is from India and takes the bus to explore her new home. It's a free service for UNR students, faculty and staff.
"I have a plan to take the bus and it's very convenient," she said. "I use the RTC app and it's so easy to navigate. I know where the bus is right now, how long it will take to reach my place to my destination; it's amazing."
Ridership on RTC Washoe buses is back up to pre-pandemic levels and for some, it's the only way to travel.
"A lot of them, I've found, they just don't want to drive," said driver and trainer John Locke. "They don't want the car the insurance, the hassle of the traffic, and personally, I'd like to see less cars on the road."
Of course public transit has environmental benefits, but there can be financial gains as well.
"The benefit of public transit is you can save a lot of money," said Phil Pumphrey, GM of Keolis, the operator for RTC Washoe. "According to the American Public Transit Association, you can save almost $10,000 a year by not having to have a car."
RTC buses have ramps and bike racks to help people with disabilities and those that want to continue their trip on two wheels. And he says public transit is statistically safer.
"Buses are very safe; they're ten times safer than a passenger car," Pumphrey said. "And we just recently won an award for our maintenance audit, so they're very reliable. We have a lot of things going on that make it easy to ride the bus so you don't have to worry about where to park, buying gas, those sort of things."
The RTC is hiring drivers right now and Locke says it's a chance to make all kinds of connections.
"I have one passenger from my regional connect that goes to Carson City," he said. "We chit chat for a couple minutes before I have to pull out of Meadowood Mall. She rides the bus every day, she refuses to buy a car, so she takes the bus everywhere and she's a great lady."
RTC Washoe also has discounts for seniors, members of the military, and people with disabilities.
