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A CarFree Tuesday for the D.C. Region

By: Stephanie Kaye // September 21, 2009
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The Washington region's third annual CarFree Day kicks off tomorrow. As the day approaches, Nicholas Ramfos finds himself driving to work. But for him that's pretty rare. He usually makes his 30-mile commute using the Fairfax bus system and Metro. "For the D.C. region it's all about time and money...if you can save time and money, show me how to do it and I will definitely make the change."

Ramfos is the director of Commuter Connections, a program run by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments. It's mission: to help agencies, businesses and individual commuters find alternatives to driving, using buses and trains, compressed work weeks and carpools. "My philosophy is you don't necessarily have to use that mode every single day of the week. However, even just one day a week will benefit not only your pocketbook - it also benefits the region in terms of congestion."

Commuter Connections is heading up CarFree Day 2009. Ramfos says so far, about five thousand people have pledged to find an alternative to tomorrow's commute.

Stephanie Kaye reports...

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