“They may say, ‘OK, well I’ll take the train this day, or I’ll take the bus this particular day because I don’t have to pay,’ and that may turn them into a new regular customer,” Hendler Ross said. The daylong free rides also coincide with All Aboard Transit Day, part of the larger Transit Month celebrations in September by more than 20 of the region’s public transit agencies. During All Aboard Transit Day, various agencies are hosting events, participating in panel discussions and giving away transit-branded swag, among other efforts, to drum up interest and boost transit use. “Transit Month is something to just raise the consciousness of transit in people’s minds, to let them know that it’s here, to remind them that it is environmentally a great way to get around the Bay Area,” Hendler Ross said. VTA buses and light rail trains move tens of thousands of people around the South Bay each day, but the agency has faced major challenges, including the tightening financial picture and a 17-day strike by its bus drivers and train operators in March that only came to an end by order of a judge.