TAIPEI, Sept 9 (AP) -- A popular Taiwanese pop singer chosen as Taipei's environmental envoy traveled through the capital Friday in a public bus to highlight a campaign urging drivers to leave their vehicles at home.

Elva Hsiao rode a city bus around the capital to help kick off the weeklong campaign promoting public transit.

Greeting Hsiao at the end of her ride, Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou said he uses the city's mass rapid transit system occasionally. "But my wife rides the bus regularly to work," Ma said.

Ma also invited Hsiao to take part in a series of city-sponsored marathons this year. The star quickly agreed. "I can begin with the three-kilometer (1.8-mile) run," Hsiao said.