METRO Celebrates Launch of ‘One Ride at a Time’ with Special Public Event

Event Held March 29, 2023 at the Exploration Center in Santa Cruz

Santa Cruz County transportation, environmental and civic leaders gathered on March 29, 2023, to launch METRO’s One Ride at a Time (ORAT) campaign to the community, an innovative campaign to showcase the environmental benefits of transit, encourage bus ridership and protect Santa Cruz County’s extraordinary natural resources with every logged ride on a METRO bus donating to program partners in protecting the environment, the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Foundation and the Bay of Life Fund.

The event, which was held at the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Exploration Center in downtown Santa Cruz, offered the public, press, environmental advocates and local leaders an opportunity to learn about and sign up for the program, view the beautifully wrapped ORAT buses, and hear from the organizations leading the effort. A public event was held from 2-4 p.m. followed by a private reception from 4-6 p.m.

Speakers included: Shebreh Kalantari-Johnson, Santa Cruz Councilmember and METRO Board Chair; Lisa Wooninck, Ph.D. Superintendent Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary; Michael Tree, METRO CEO/General Manager; Manu Koenig, County Supervisor and Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission Board Chair and METRO Board Member; Featured Campaign Photographer Frans Lanting and Writer Chris Eckstrom, Founders of the Bay of Life Fund; Ginaia Kelly, Chapter Director of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Foundation; and Santa Cruz Mayor Fred Keeley.

One Ride at a Time is made possible by a partnership between METRO, Santa Cruz County Regional TransportationCommission (SCCRTC), Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, Bay of Life Fund, and renowned photographer-writer team Frans Lanting and Chris Eckstrom.

To learn more about the event, see our event wrap up here.

To learn more on METRO’s One Ride at a Time campaign and register for the program, visit scmtd.com/onerideatatime