The Rhode Island Bicycle Coalition and RIPTA’s Commuter Resources group would like to challenge all Rhode Island residents to join us for the 2010 Commuter Challenge. The goal of the challenge is to see how many people we can get to choose a more environmentally friendly mode of transportation. If you typically drive alone in the car how about carpooling or taking the bus? If you are already a bus commuter, how about trying out bicycle commuting?
When is the challenge running? For the entire month of May
What do I need to do? Go to the 2010 Commuter Carbon Reduction Challenge applet and sign up for an account. Log whether or not you commuted and your mode(s) of transportation for every day of the week.
Why should I join the challenge? You’ll be helping the environment, you’ll be reducing congestion on the streets, and if you bike or walk for your commute you’ll be helping to minimize your waistline while commuting.
What’s in it for me? Other than the personal satisfaction of knowing you are doing something good? We have prizes. The software will be tracking all participants and giving you credit in two different ways:
- For every day you commute in some way other than a single occupancy vehicle, you get one or more points. The more environmentally friendly the mode of transportation, the more points you will get.
- Earn one (1) point for carpooling
- Earn two (2) points for riding the bus
- Earn three (3) points for walking or biking
- The software applet calculates estimates your CO2 offset for each mode of transportation.
We have over $1,000 in prizes currently. Gift cards will be presented to the top three finishers in the point and CO2 offset categories:
- The top finisher in each category will each receive a $300 gift card
- The 2nd place finisher in each category will each receive a $150 gift card
- The 3rd place finisher in each category will each receive a $50 gift card
In case of a multi-way tie in either category, the alternate category will be used to break the tie. For instance, if we have two people finish with 596 total points, whomever has the greater CO2 offset will be considered the winner and the other person the runner up. In case of a multi-way tie which can’t be resolved with the alternate category, a random drawing will be held to determine the winners.
We are also offering up weekly random drawings, where the more points you earn the better your chance of winning become.
So come join us and see how you can minimize your environmental footprint! Questions or comments, please drop us an email.