GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — The Rapid bus service says it could not provide free rides for Monday’s Air Quality Action Day because it ran out of cash for the program.

In a Monday Facebook post, the metro Grand Rapids bus service said that it gets a set amount of money each year to let people ride for free on Air Quality Action Days.

“Unfortunately, this year’s unprecedented increase in Air Quality Days, caused by widespread wildfires, led to the depletion of our funds,” the post read in part, referencing the fires in Canada that have cause haze over West Michigan.

Including Monday, The Rapid has had 19 Clean Air Action Days and Air Quality Action Days so far this year. In 2022, there were only six. Cassi Cooper, an engagement and digital outreach specialist with The Rapid, said the agency hasn’t seen numbers this high since 2012, when 25 days were called.

The Rapid apologized for any confusion.

It says it will get its next chunk of Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality money at the end of August. It is working with the Federal Transit Administration to try to secure additional funding to cover any more Air Quality Action Days before then.

Some riders told News 8 that the situation won’t affect how they use the bus.

“I’ll still ride the bus. I’ve got to get to where I’ve got to go. So that’s just how it works. I don’t have another choice. If the ride’s free it’s free, if it’s not it’s not,” passenger Adam Henry said.

“I understand that they can only do it so much,” another rider, Mark Ferguson, said. “Really to come downtown and not pay for parking and stuff like that, it’s feasible.”