Manatee County Area Transit recently offered complimentary service as part of a regional Try Transit campaign. The promotion is part of the Florida Department of Transportation’s awareness campaign to get commuters to consider alternative modes of transportation, especially for work commutes typically involving one vehicle transporting one person.

MCAT Manager Bill Steele said Try Transit Day is a great way to highlight the benefits public transportation offers riders, including saving money on fuel, improving the environment by cutting down on carbon emissions and additional productive time on the commute to and from work.

“We’re hoping to attract people to our system to experience the benefits and the availability of the service,” Steele said. “MCAT benefits the environment and mitigates traffic in our county. Public transit offers much more than saving you the cost of increasing fuel prices. The indirect savings also includes areas of auto insurance, auto maintenance, and it can relieve you of the stress from bumper to bumper traffic.”

In addition, MCAT routes were recently loaded into Google Transit Maps making route information available on all computers and smart phones with an Internet connection.

For information on MCAT visit www.mymanatee.org/mcat or call (941) 747-8621. For more information on car pools, transit, biking, walking and running as alternatives, visit www.commuterservicesFL.com.