Research Triangle Park, N.C. – The Triangle Transit Authority (TTA) has added new    riders with the announcement that it has suspended fares on the “TTA Express” service between Chapel Hill-Raleigh and Durham-Raleigh through Friday, September 9th.

Earlier this week, Governor Mike Easley asked residents to conserve fuel. Travelers making longer trips on congested corridors, such as I-40, use more fuel than those traveling on less congested city streets. In the spirit of this effort, TTA decided to offer free trips on TTA’s Express Service through this period. The regular fare for the TTA Express is $2.50 for a one-way trip. Fares on all other TTA services will be collected.

“We are encouraged by the number of new riders that are using TTA Express,” said John Tallmadge, Director of Commuter Resources. “Rising gasoline prices also have prompted more calls to TTA’s Customer Service lines. We’re using additional resources to answer the calls we’ve been getting.” TTA had a 50% increase in its calls in August and has seen  a higher than average number of daily calls this week. Hits to the trip planner at www.rideTTA.org have increased by nearly 100 percent. Online sales of transit passes    also are exceeding TTA’s first month projections.

In addition to the free rides on express routes, TTA will offer all employees of State Government offices free travel on ALL TTA buses and shuttles from Tuesday,      September 6 through September 30, 2005. TTA is offering the free rides in September    in cooperation with the NC Department of Transportation. State Government employees will need to show their employee ID to be granted rides on TTA routes. NCDOT will     assist TTA in advertising this new benefit to state government employees.

TTA’s Express service between Durham-Raleigh and Chapel Hill-Raleigh have three departures in the morning and three departures in the afternoon. Travel times average    55 minutes to 70 minutes from the first to last stop. Tallmadge said, “We hope those that travel with us in the next few days will continue use our express service.”

TTA is a regional public transportation provider, offering a wide variety of transit and vanpool services to North Carolina's greater Triangle Region and outlying counties. Bus service is available to Apex, Cary, Chapel Hill, Durham, Garner, RDU International    Airport, Research Triangle Park (RTP) and Raleigh. The Triangle Transit Authority    provides commuter resources and hosts GoTriangle.org, the on-line resource for public transportation information in the Triangle and ShareTheRideNC.com, the statewide          rideshare matching service.

TTA plans to implement a 28-mile rail transit system with 12 stations connecting Durham, RTP, Cary and Raleigh, with shuttles linking RDU International Airport and RTP. The       rail transit system is expected to be operational in 2008. For more information, visit www.rideTTA.org or call (919) 549-9999.