Step Awa-a-a-y From the Car … And Into the Train.

VIA Rail, which is Canada’s equivalent to Amtrak in the U.S., made news a while back by offering free tickets to Canadian service personnel during the month of July. That promotion was a huge success and, as I recall, something like 60,000 people took advantage of the offer.

Well, VIA is at it again. To help promote Car Free Day, VIA is offering a 50% discount on tickets purchased on line between today and next Monday, the 22nd. But note, please, the discount applies only to travel between next Monday and December 14th, and there is a blackout for travel from October 10th through the 13th.

I must now confess that I was completely unaware of Car Free Day, although it is supposedly observed by millions of people every year on September 22nd. As the name implies, we’re supposed to shun our cars on that day as a means of calling attention to our addiction to automobiles and, I suppose, to the gas they guzzle.

Not a bad idea … although a cold chill just went up the collective spines of the members of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority (see previous post).