With Earth Day fast approaching, Metro is highlighting what it says is one of its "greenest years ever".

Last year, the nonprofit service of the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority added 45 new mini-hybrid buses to the 27 hybrid buses in its 346-vehicle fleet. Metro plans to add 33 new mini-hybrids to its fleet this year.

The more than 17 million passenger trips taken each year reduce carbon emissions by more than 4,800 pounds, according to Metro.

"Metro is proud to offer Greater Cincinnati residents a green way to get to work, school and play," Metro CEO Terry Garcia Crews said in a prepared release. "Metro continues to be the environmentally responsible way to travel in Cincinnati."

Metro is the winner of the Greater Cincinnati Earth Coalition's Cincinnati Earth Day Celebration 2012 Environmental Award and is a member of the local Green Umbrella organization, which works to improve the economic vitality and quality of life in the region by maximizing the collective impact of individuals and organizations dedicated to environmental sustainability.

This year, it will participate in several Earth Day events, including:

• Party for the Planet!, April 18 from 4 P.M.-8:30 P.M. at the Cincinnati Zoo;
• Cincinnati Earth Day Celebration, April 20 from noon-5 P.M. at Sawyer Point;
• Earth Day Fair, April 22 from 10 A.M.-2 P.M. at the Cincinnati VA Medical Center;
• Earth Day at P&G, April 24 from 10:30 A.M.-1:30 P.M.; and
• The Christ Hospital Earth Day Fair, April 24 from 11 A.M.-1 P.M.

This spring, Metro plans to introduce an update to its regional transit plan, a list of short- and long-term recommendations that will include the Metro*Plus bus rapid transit (BRT) pilot project connecting Downtown and Kenwood via Montgomery Road, frequency and capacity changes to existing bus routes, additional cross-town routes, neighborhood circulators, more express buses and park-and-ride locations, call-and-ride zones, transit centers and upgraded stops, and additional shelters.

Photo provided

Previous reading on BC:
Metro ridership up 4.2% in 2012 (1/25/13)
Metro phasing out tokens for tickets, passes (12/28/12)
Feedback sought for Metro's draft regional transit plan (11/13/12)
Montgomery Road Metro*Plus service to be precursor to bus rapid transit (10/31/12)
Metro announces plans for $6.9M Uptown Transit District (10/23/12)