Mayor Greg Nickels has asked the City Council to provide free bus passes to all city employees by 2009, part of an effort to get more people our of their cars and reduce global warming pollution.

As a first step, the city would double the current subsidy for employee transit passes from $15 to $30 per month starting Jan. 1. If adopted by the Council, the legislation would allow the city to cover the entire cost of a "peak" one-zone Puget Pass, equivalent transit pass item, starting in 2009.

"Cars are the biggest single source of greenhouse gas pollution in our region and we must take steps to make it easier and more convenient for people to take transit," Nickels said. "As a city government, we've cut our own emissions by 60 percent, and this will help make even more of a difference. Getting employees out of their cars and onto mass transit is an important step in our plan to meet our climate protection goals."