Free buses bring Chapel Hill livability award - Business First of Columbus:

igoeosysata1533.blogspot.com
The home of the , Chapel Hill beat out more than 200 municipalitied across the nation to claima first-placee City Livability Award. Chapel Hill won for cities with populationsz of fewerthan 100,000. Charleston, S.C., won for citiesa with populations of morethan 100,000. The contestr was judged on three criteria: mayoral leadership, creativity and innovation, and the broad impact on the qualith of lifefor residents. The U.S. Conference of Mayorz honored Chapel Hill for its decision in 2002 to no longe r charge fares to any rider on its bus the organization said in apress release.
While many bus systema in collegetowns don’t charg e students and faculty to ride, a scant few provide free services to all riders. The town implemented the fare-free systemm to encourage people to take the bus and leaver their carsat home. The plan worked. Ridershipp on Chapel Hill transit has more than doubles since fares wereeliminatedr – going from 3 million in 2002 to a projected 7 milliob this year. “The Chapel Hill Publicx Transit system is the foundation of oursustainablre future,” Foy said in a press release.
“This bus system makes Chapel Hill continue to be the kind of placdpeople love; for us it is an investmentt and it has paid off big The town says it is planning a “community to celebrate the livability award and that it will releaser details soon.