Dump The Pump day allows bus riding for free
Douglas Kyed
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For one day transportation was free, but it would have helped if passengers had known about it. The Greater Attleboro Taunton Regional Transit Authority, or GATRA, decided to participate in the national Dump The Pump campaign Thursday by allowing passengers to ride the buses free of charge.
GATRA passengers were very appreciative of the gesture, but said that the day could have been promoted better. Marissa Humphreys, a Norton resident, complained that she had to look on the website to find out about the Dump The Pump day. "That's about as bad of a promotion as you can get," Humphreys said.
"I wish they did this every day," Joe Freedman, a Mansfield resident said. Freedman said he became aware of the campaign on Thursday morning when he saw the tolls covered up.
Despite the poor promotion, GATRA increased its passengers during its free day."GATRA experienced an increase of approximately 350 riders on Dump the Pump day. Any revenue that was lost was small in comparison to the regular passengers we hope to have gained," Stacy Forte, administrative secretary of GATRA, said.
Greg Cook, an Attleboro resident said that he usually doesn't take the bus to work, but because of the free service he decided to do so Thursday. "I heard about it from a friend, I've taken the bus a few times before but I'll gladly take a free bus to work."
Will the MBTA ever consider doing a free promotion like the one GATRA did? MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo said, "Burdened with more than $5b in debt, the MBTA needs every penny it can get."
This is the second year in a row GATRA has participated in the Dump The Pump promotion. Dump The Pump is a nationwide campaign sponsored by the American Puplic Transportation Association. The campaign is in its third year.
GATRA is in its 30th year of existence. It serves 26 Massachusetts communities.