The South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) recently presented Clean Air Awards to the Riverside Transit Agency (RTA), Riverside, CA, and Omnitrans, San Bernardino, CA. Each year, SCAQMD recognizes companies, organizations, and individuals that have made a significant contribution to clean air and a more sustainable economy.

RTA received the “Model Community Achievement” award for powering its fleet with compressed natural gas (CNG) for more than a decade, as well as for its student ride programs and involvement in a public advocacy group that promotes public transit.

The agency experimented with low-emission buses powered by methanol in 1988 and replaced its entire diesel bus fleet with CNG-powered vehicles in 2001. RTA is currently introducing next generation CNG buses to service.

SCAQMD also cited RTA’s Go-Pass and U-Pass programs, which allow students at five participating colleges and universities to leave their cars at home and ride the bus free with a student ID, and the agency’s participation in the Transportation NOW grassroots advocacy organization.

SCAQMD presented its “Advancement in Innovative Transportation Projects” award to Omnitrans for the “Go Smart” program for students attending four colleges in the San Bernardino Valley. This pilot program, introduced in 2011-2012, more than doubled the number of local college students using public transit and prevented an estimated 129 tons of pollution from being emitted into the air.

Students had unlimited access to the Omnitrans bus system by swiping their college ID cards. During a typical week, more than 10 percent of students rode the bus, compared with 4 percent before the program. More than one quarter of enrolled students tried the program at least once.