Bottled Water Relieves Bus Riders in the Desert Heat
Source <P>By Wendi Hope King, WQP Staff; IBWA; <I>Arizona Republic</I></P>
It's tough to find relief from Arizona's desert heat, but the City of Phoenix is helping bus passengers escape with cold bottled water.
Every day in July and August, the city is paying for approximately 900 bus passengers to receive cold bottled water. The costs amounts to between $15,000 and $20,000, reported an article in the Arizona Republic.
The buses that run during rush hours are 60 feet long and reportedly transport up to 70 passengers. The buses run from downtwon to the suburbs including Avondale, Deer Valley, Scottsdale and Chandler.
Marie Chapple, a Valley Metro spokeswoman said that about 10 of the original busses that were purchased in the 1980s are still being used today. These buses have more than 500,000 miles each and have "inadequate air conditioning systems and break down four times as often as the fleet average." These buses are scheduled to be replaced next year.
The offering of free cold bottled water to passengers is not only to keep passengers from dehydrating or overheating, but it was a show that the bus company really does care, reported Phoenix transit planning.
Although an IBWA survey found that most Americans are not drinking the daily recommended amounts of water, it also shows that water is a major part of a person's daily drinking pattern. According to the survey data, the combination of unfiltered or filtered water and bottled water consumed each day constitutes 40 percent of reported daily drink consumption.1
Americans consumed 5.03 billion gallons of bottled water in 2000, up 125 percent from the 2.2 gallons consumed in 1990. Annual per capita consumption of bottled water now stands at 18.3 gallons, up from 12.1 gallons in 1995.1
1 International Bottled Water Association; www.bottledwater.org.
Source:
By Wendi Hope King, WQP Staff; IBWA; Arizona Republic