A city in one of China’s most polluted regions has eliminated bus fares in order to tackle smog.

The city of Cangzhou, Hebei province began offering free bus rides in mid-November, and will continue them through mid-March, the official China News Service reported – a period that overlaps with the public-heating season, when the air is dirtiest.

Past pollution-fighting measures – such as cutting off certain types of heating and temporarily shuttering heavy manufacturing – aren’t as desirable this year due to a slowing economy.

Hebei is one of China’s smoggiest provinces, and the air in Cangzhou was the seventh worst out of 11 major Hebei cities last year, according to local government-owned media Hebnews.

Will more public transport help clean the air? Maybe. A recent study found that transportation is the top producer of pollution-causing particle PM 2.5 in Beijing, according to the Beijing Municipal Environment Monitoring Center.