The Metropolitan Transit System will be joining with transportation agencies across the country to celebrate Dump the Pump Day on June 18 and invites San Diego County residents to participate by trying MTS.

Sponsored by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), the 2009 National Dump the Pump Day is a day that encourages people to ride public transportation to save money, protect the environment, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and improve our quality of life.

“By participating in Dump the Pump Day, we hope people who have never used MTS will decide to give us a try instead of driving their car,” said MTS Chief Executive Paul Jablonski. “If you leave your car behind to take public transportation, you will be helping to reduce America’s dependence on foreign energy and combat climate change.”

San Diegans can achieve an average annual savings of over $9,000 by taking public transportation instead of driving and by living with one less car, according to APTA. And for every $1 invested in public transportation infrastructure, $6 is generated in economic returns to communities.

In celebration of residents dumping the pump, MTS will be giving away a free monthly pass on June 18, to a San Diego resident who takes a fun quiz at www.sdmts.com. The winner will be selected at random.

Those wanting to plan a trip, can do so at http://transit.google.com or through MTS’ OTIS system if coming from North San Diego County at http://www.sdmts.com/Tripplanner.asp.

Public transportation saves 900,000 automobile fill-ups each day – 4.2 billion gallons of gasoline per year. And switching to public transportation can reduce individual carbon emissions by 20 pounds per day or 4,800 pounds per year.

MTS operates a 54.3-mile light rail transit network, 89 fixed bus routes, and ADA Complementary Public Paratransit Service in the San Diego region. In FY08 it set a system record by carrying more than 87 million passengers and MTS is poised to carry 92 million passengers this year.