SacRT and its employees are taking the California Clean Air pledge. Here’s how you can join them!

Katie Lichty, a Sacramento Regional Transit District (SacRT) senior marketing specialist, believes in doing her part as a good civic citizen. She’s among the first of thousands of Sacramento-area residents this year to formally pledge to reduce their carbon footprint as part of the annual California Clean Air Day.

SacRT this week is encouraging its employees and the Sacramento community to do the same. Clean Air Day is Wednesday, October 4. To make the pledge, visit sacrt.com/cleanairday. In an effort to make it easier to pledge, SacRT will offer free rides on Wednesday, October 4, 2023.

For Lichty, taking the pledge means making small steps. She’s begun making her own household cleaning solution rather than buying aerosol spray at the store. And she recently rode the bus to and from work instead of driving her car. For Lichty, she lives outside of the SacRT service area, so taking a commuter bus wasn’t something she did previously. It was a pleasure to relax and read a book, she said, rather than deal with the hassle of navigating the Highway 50 construction zone.

“It was super nice, honestly,” she said. “I definitely plan to do it (more).”

She is hoping many others will join her in pledging over the next week. “The efforts of one person might seem small,” she said, “but the great thing about California Clean Air Day is seeing how the individual pledges come together to make a big impact.

“I really like the collaboration element of it, when everybody pulls together.”

What does taking the Clean Air pledge mean? The Clean Air Day website has a list of potential actions you can take, most of them small, such as attending more work meetings remotely rather than driving or flying. Also on the list: planting a tree and buying your produce locally. Some options are significant, such testing, renting, or buying an electric or zero-emission vehicle.

SacRT General Manager/CEO Henry Li, who often rides trains to work events, points out one obvious change people can make in their daily, weekly or monthly life: ride transit more often.

“At SacRT, we are committed to sustainability and to making a positive impact on the environment,” Li said. “Please commit to actions to reduce air pollution and minimize our carbon footprint. We know one of the best ways to do this is taking buses and light rail.”

This year, SacRT is teaming up with the Sacramento Transportation Management Association (Sacramento TMA) to provide transit education as well as offer transit field trips for workers in central Sacramento in the coming weeks. The goal is to teach more people about the ease of using transit and ways it can work for them.

Cheryl Croshere, Sacramento TMA Executive Director, said she is delighted by the chance to introduce more central city workers to alternatives to single-car commutes.

“The Sacramento TMA is thrilled to partner with SacRT in showing our member employees all the benefits of using light rail,” she said. “Our transit network is a fantastic resource in the Sacramento region, whether getting to work, meeting family or friends, or catching a Kings game. Taking transit relieves the stress of driving and parking, saves money, and cleans our air.”