FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

8 February 2012

MST USES GRANT TO PROMOTE PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION AWARENESS

Monterey-Salinas Transit (MST) was allocated a portion of a Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement (CMAQ) grant from the Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments (AMBAG) to promote public transportation awareness in Monterey County by reducing traffic congestion. The $35,710 grant aims to reduce private automobile trips that could be served by transit. MST proposed a multi-faceted outreach effort to engage the community in transit awareness by airing television advertisements promoting transit, as well as providing free rides on transit to target new potential users who have not used transit regularly in the past.

The goal of the campaign is to increase public awareness of MST’s services and introduce new riders to the transit system. The proposal included four programs geared toward promoting transit in Monterey County:

Marketing and Promotion
MST is airing television advertisements for six weeks on multiple cable channels in Monterey County highlighting the low cost of public transportation as compared to using a single-occupant vehicle.

Cannery Row Group Discount Program
MST is working with employers on Cannery Row to capture employee trips on transit. MST’s 31-day Basic GoPasses will be distributed to individuals who commute to work at businesses in the neighborhood and who sign up for the new Cannery Row Group Discount Program. This is a start-up program beginning February 2012. A free 31-day GoPass will serve as an incentive to join the program.

Reading and Riding
Located in a lower-income, minority community, the Chavez Library in eastern Salinas is currently closed for renovation and expansion. Students in the local area normally using the library have to be shuttled to other public libraries. Many of these trips occur in private automobiles. MST has distributed 7-day Discount GoPasses to the Salinas Libraries to get children from East Salinas to the public libraries across town. The free transit passes enable students to learn to navigate public transit and reduce the need for parents to shuttle their children afterschool.

“The collaboration between MST, AMBAG and the Salinas Public Library will allow children to continue accessing library services while the Chavez Library is undergoing renovations. It’s great how this is happening for the community,” says MST board member Sergio Sanchez.

Medical Appointments and Veterans Services
The Veterans Transition Center is a resource to many veterans and their families. MST has distributed pre-loaded GoCards to the Veterans Transition Center to promote MST as a means for transportation to medical appointments and other health and human services.

MST Chairman of the board of directors Fernando Armenta commented, “We would like to thank AMBAG for approving a small grant in order to assist Veterans with their medical appointments. The 250 MST GoCards will greatly assist those who are in immediate need with transit services. Many of our combat veterans have gone through a lot of physical and psychological trauma. We thank you all for this.”

For more information, visit www.mst.org or call Monterey-Salinas Transit toll free at 1-888-MST-BUS1. Follow MST on Twitter at www.twitter.com/mst_bus for the latest service alerts.

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