Rising gas prices didn't seem to be a deciding factor in taking a free ride from the city on Clean Air Day last Wednesday.

The bus system saw 161 more riders than the usual Wednesday average. Whitehorse Transit provides this free service every year.

However, the numbers were down from the 2007 Clean Air Day, when 1,613 riders took advantage of the free service.

Last Wednesday, 1,516 hopped onto a bus at one point or another for the free bus ride.

Shared and public transportation, as well as the use of non-motorized vehicles, are promoted on Clean Air Day as a way of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The city offers free transit each year as part of the events.

While the service was provided at no charge, the city's mayor was not among those who used the bus to get to work last Wednesday.

Having just returned from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities' conference in Quebec, Mayor Bev Buckway explained she was bringing in bags of documents and work from the conference and it wasn't practical to get on the bus.

She pointed out, though, the city is less than a month away from the July 1 start of the downtown transit loop which will provide 20-minute direct service between the Canada Games Centre and the downtown between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Monday to Friday, again on Friday from 7 p.m. until 10 p.m. and on Saturdays from 8:40 a.m. until 7 p.m.

Transit officials will be gauging public support for the system in terms of riders after the many calls there were to come up with the downtown loop.

A new schedule will also begin on the same day the new service starts, along with changes to the Takhini route, which will see the buses run in the opposite direction of the loop to Yukon College and the Canada Games Centre.

Bus riders can also enter their names in a draw each time they ride the bus to win a one-month pass for both the bus service and Canada Games Centre.

Transit passes currently range from $26 to $62 monthly depending on what age group a rider is in, or from $10 to $23 for a strip of 10 tickets with cash fares being $2.50 per trip.