New Year's is upon us, and with it, plenty of celebrations. If you’re planning on going out, a local public transport service is providing free designated drivers.
The Monroe County Regional Transit Service is offering bus rides for the New Years holiday free of charge starting at 6 p.m. Tuesday.
“Stay safe and let RTS be your designated driver,” RTS CEO Miguel Velázquez said in a public service announcement this month.
The National Safety Council estimates that nearly 180 people may die from motor vehicle crashes as people ring in the new year. That’s significantly lower than previous years, in part because New Year's lands on a Wednesday and not a weekend.
Dating back to 1985, NSC data shows that drunken driving fatalities hover around 30% on average in a given year, but on New Year's holidays, the rate is notably higher.
Even a small amount of alcohol can affect a person’s driving, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said. In 2022, the agency recorded more than 2,300 people killed in car crashes when the driver had a blood-alcohol content under the legal limit.
Free bus rides begin at 6 p.m. Tuesday and end at midnight on New Year’s Day. After that, bus fare returns to the usual $1.
