Rock Region Metro, the transit agency for Pulaski County, will offer free rides on regular and express bus routes Thursday to mark National Get on Board Day.
The initiative will help kick off Ozone Action Days, a public awareness campaign to educate people in central Arkansas about the harmful effects of ground-level ozone and encourage people to use alternate modes of transportation to reduce ground-level ozone during the hot summer months.
National Get on Board Day was developed by the American Public Transportation Association to create awareness of and support for public transportation.
Residents wanting to use Rock Region buses can find real-time arrival information to plan their trips at rrmetro.org, through the bus stop sign texting system or by downloading the free METROtrack mobile app in the App store or Google Play.
The Ozone Action Days campaign is designed to encourage people to take their own steps to reduce vehicle emissions that contribute to ground-level ozone.
Ground-level ozone is created when pollutants mix with sunlight. Breathing this type of ozone can cause a number of problems including chest pain, coughing, throat irritation, and congestion, according to Metroplan, the long-range transportation planning agency for central Arkansas.
The steps can keep the region in compliance with federal air quality standards, Metroplan officials said.
Metroplan sponsors the Ozone Action Days awareness campaign in partnership with the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality, the Arkansas Department of Health and the Arkansas Department of Transportation.
The campaign runs from May through September and focuses on four central Arkansas counties: Faulkner, Lonoke, Pulaski and Saline. For more information, visit ozoneactiondays.org.