When Joyce Dennis moved to Durham, she was used to riding public transit. She's from New York, after all. Yet when she moved here she started driving all the time from north Durham to work downtown.

"I didn't drive until I got here. I got my license in 1998," she said as she typed in her office in the county Engineering Department. "Living in New York, public transportation ran 24/7 and it took you anywhere you wanted to go."

But last year, when the County started offering free passes on Durham Area Transit Authority buses, she changed her routine. She takes the bus about twice a week now.

"By making modes of alternate transportation more convenient, people might be more inclined," she said.

Both Durham City and County are in the first year of a gas reduction plan that is the first of its kind in the state.

"In that plan, we've committed to reducing government's production of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases by 50 percent in the next 20 years," said Tobin Freid, Sustainability Manager for Durham City and County. "We've been able to offer free bus passes to county employees so that they can take the bus. We've also put in place a green building policy for the county so all new buildings will meet very high standards."

Those county employee incentives back in August got others like Dennis interested in alternate sources of transportation here.

"We actually had 60 employees who had not previously gotten bus passes from us who took advantage of it," she said.

Still, Freid estimates fewer than 5 percent of county employees take alternate routes of transportation. More incentives should could next month or in March.

"We're going to be starting a go-pass program with Triangle Transit and DATA and employees will be able to have one pass that they can use on any Triangle Transit or DATA bus," she said. "They'll pay a small portion of the cost and the county will subsidize the rest of it."

In addition to reducing emissions by 50 percent in 20 years, government agencies want community levels down by 30 percent. During this last year, 1,500 city and county employees who signed a pledge received a free compact fluorescent light bulb.

"That cuts out about 31 tons of carbon dioxide," Freid said. "That's almost 14 round trips to L.A. in a car."

Now Freid is working on other projects to get more people interested in reducing emissions. One problem she sees: the city has showers for employees, but the county doesn't.

"I'm just looking for other businesses downtown with buildings that have showers that we can partner with to make them available to bike commuters," she said. "There is one shower. But it's not very well-known. It's in a remote building; not in the main building where most people commute to."