What do we all need more of in our lives, yet is incredibly hard to find more of? Time and money. We’ve talked to a few people that have found that by taking the bus they’ve each saved time and money.

Saving Money

Sherry Miller from Miller, Canfield, Paddock and Stone PLC says that the bus saves her money and the ride is relaxing…

“I believe that utilizing the AATA transit system is a great way to save a ridiculous amount of money that it would cost me to park my car in a structure to work downtown.  Also, I find that riding the bus in to the station from the Park & Ride in the morning is relaxing and non-stressful.  I’d recommend it to anybody.  I love my go!pass!”

Renee Twining, an Administrative Assistant at the University of Michigan Hospital, says that by parking at the Miller Park & Ride and taking the bus each day she saves money.  To buy a pass at the Hospital’s parking lot would be “minimum $600/year to just get close to hospital and then you have to take a commuter bus” to make the final leg of the journey.

Saving Time

Chris DeVries of the University of Michigan CBDSM says that the combination of taking the bus and walking into his office is a great energizing activity each day…

“Since my commute is long (45 miles one way), I have been using the Park & Ride lots, AATA, and walking to get to work. Riding the bus allows me to read the newspaper or a book before and after work – taking my mind off work for a few minutes. The walking also gets my blood flowing in the morning, so I am ready to go when I get in the office.”

Renee Twining said that she gets to read and enjoy her coffee on the ride in.“I LOVE taking the bus!  Relaxing, and I always make it to work on time.”

According to Eileen Chaivre, an Administrative Support Specialist at the City of Ann Arbor, “By the time I walk to the Ann Ashley parking structure, get to my car and get out of the structure, I am passing Pioneer High at the same time or only a few minutes before the bus would be dropping me off”.

Think about your commute and how changing a few habits could result in time and money saved each day.  If you take Miller Road or Main Street into downtown each morning, why not park at a Park & Ride Lot and have the bus take you in? If you’re looking for more information on how to use the Park & Ride lots, or want to know what Lot would be best for you, give us a call at 734-214-0100 or visit http://getdowntown.org/bus/park_ride.html

Get your bike road ready in 5 easy steps. Learn some walk safety tips. Check out how to use Zipcar.

Drive Less.  Save More. is an Oregon-based program to encourage people to–well–Drive less and save more!

One of the neat things they have on there website are how-to videos related to different modes of transportation.

Check it out here.

FYI:

Internationally renowned walkability expert Dan Burden is visiting Lansing next Friday, February 12th to do an all-day workshop at the Michigan Municipal League.

Click here for all the info

Free parking for downtown workers – is it just a myth? Absolutely not! There is a brand new free parking lot that all Ann Arborites, especially those of us working downtown, will want to know about. This hotspot not only provides commuters with free parking, but also gives them a lift to their office door in warmth and comfort. It opened early opened up earlier this week, so you’ll want to get in on the action before it gets crowded with other commuters…so where is this new free parking location?

Plymouth Rd Park & Ride Lot

The Park & Ride Lot up at Plymouth Rd and US-23. Within a day of opening there were many commuters who knew about this lot and were using it. The new Route 2 connects to this Park & Ride Lot, as well as the Green Road Park & Ride Lot and commuters who work at the U of M Medical Center, U of M Central Campus or Downtown Ann Arbor will be served well by both of these locations. From the Plymouth Road Lot at peak commuting times, the ride takes between 15-25 minutes. Sure you could drive that distance in your car, but then you’d have to spend additional time driving up to the top of your parking structure to leave your car. Why not hop on the bus and take that last few minutes of your commute to enjoy the warmth of the bus while reading a magazine or listening to a podcast. You have to walk to your office anyway, why not be dropped off at a bus stop rested and ready to start your day.

Park & Ride Lots Save You Money

Commuting from Park & Ride lots can save you $1050 a year if you park in a DDA parking structure. If you have a go!pass, that savings is $1500 a year. Employers looking to cut down on their monthly expenses could ditch the parking pass and know that their employees – even those who don’t live in Ann Arbor – can get to work safely on the bus.

Which Park & Ride Lot works best for you?

If you live in Canton, Ypsilanti, or points east the Park & Ride Lots at Green and Plymouth are easily accessed by M-14 and US-23. If you live south of Ann Arbor, the Pioneer High Park & Ride or the State Street Park & Ride Lot are great options. And if you live in Chelsea, Dexter or points north of Ann Arbor, the Miller Road Park & Ride gives you quick and easy access to Downtown, Central Campus and the Medical Center. Check here for the routes to find which Park & Ride has the best service for where you need to go.

Emergency

What if you have to stay late at work, for a last-minute meeting with a client or a dinner out with your co-workers? Bus service to the Plymouth Rd. P&R as well as the Miller Rd P&R goes late.  If you have to stay until 10:00pm, you can still get a bus from Blake Transit Center that will take you up to your car. (This is done on request – call 996-4000, or ask your driver, for more details.) And if you have to stay later than that – between 11:00pm and 6:00am, the Night Ride can take you up to your car for $1 with your go!pass (or $5 without).

So now you’ll know why your fellow co-workers always show up at work more cheerful, and can afford an extra coffee or two during the week. So join them! Be a commuter who saves money, has a quick and easy ride to downtown (one that doesn’t include spending ten minutes in your parking structure circling up to your parking spot!) by hopping on the bus at the Park & Ride Lot.

Where do you go to find information on the best places to eat downtown? What about where to grab the best cup of coffee? Chances are you have a go-to source for this kind of information, whether it is a friend, a co-worker, or some online source.

But who could you turn to for help with your downtown commute? Maybe you’re sick and tired of paying for parking. Maybe you’re new to the downtown and what to get a sense of all your options.

No matter the reason, there is a great resource you can use if you work in downtown Ann Arbor. It’s the getDowntown Program. The getDowntown Program provides FREE commuting information for employees in downtown Ann Arbor. We know the bus routes, have figured out Park & Ride lots, and ride our bikes to work. We can answer any downtown commuting questions you have, and we can do it for free.

Click here to ask getDowntown a Commuting Question

Commuting Questions Answered

Here’s a taste of the kind of questions we can answer. These are actual questions from actual downtown employees:

Downtown Employee: I commute regular hours (M-F, 9-5) from Toledo to downtown Ann Arbor. Are you aware of any shuttle or carpooling opportunities (or where to find them) for folks who travel between Toledo and downtown Ann Arbor?

getDowntown: There are a couple of options for you.

Mirideshare.org: One option is mirdeshare.org, which is a carpool site run by the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority and the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG). All you have to do is go to mirideshare.org, enter in your information, and look for a match!

MichiVan: You might also be interested in vanpooling to work with other people who work in downtown Ann Arbor, including at the UM. The getDowntown Program can assist you with this, or you can do it yourself at www.michivan.com

If you do decide to carpool or vanpool to work, keep in mind that getDowntown offers preferential carpool and vanpool parking at various parking structures downtown.

Downtown Employee: I live in Ypsilanti Township, close to Huron River Drive. The AATA buses don’t go this far and there isn’t a Park & Ride Lot in the area. Can I park at a shopping center parking lot and take the bus from there?

getDowntown: This might be an option for you. The getDowntown Program can help by connecting with the manager of the shopping center to see if it is ok for you to park at that location.

Got a Commuting Question? I bet we have an answer! Click here to ask us a commuting question today!

We just got a call from someone wondering where the new AATA Plymouth Road Park and Ride Lot is located.

For a map of this location, please click here.

For more info on this and other Park & Ride Lots, you can visit getDowntown’s Park and Ride Lot page.

You have probably heard about Toyota having some problems with some of its most popular cars.  Well one of those cars is the Matrix and currently the downtown Ann Arbor Zipcar fleet has 2 Toyota Matrix’s.  As of now, the be safe, Zipcar is removing those vehicles from the fleet.  No word yet about when they might return or what they will be replaced with.

if you find yourself biking, busing or walking in the wintertime, congratulations!  You, my friend, are a Winter Warrior.

Come celebrate your Winter Warrior-ness with other like-minded folks during Downtown Ann Arbor’s Winter Warrior event!

Winter Warrior will be happening on Saturday, Feb 6th from 12-6pm.

Restaurants and cafes will have outdoor seating and there will be discounts to downtown stores.  Restaurants and cafes will be bringing out their sidewalk furniture, and those guests who sit outside will enjoy specials such as $2 draught beers and $1 hot drinks (tea, coffee, soda, etc.).  Restaurants and cafes will be bringing out their sidewalk furniture, and those guests who sit outside will enjoy specials such as $2 draught beers and $1 hot drinks (tea, coffee, soda, etc.). All you have to do is grab a drink, get your receipt stickered and then visit one of the following stores for your discount.  These stores should have balloons outside them to let you know they are participating.

Winter Warrior Discounts:

Here is a list of our participating retailers and the discounts they are offering:

Salon XL – 20% off products
Moosejaw – 20% off any one, regular priced item
Salon Vox – 20% off products
Schakolad – discounts on hot drinks and prebooked Valentine’s orders
Sole Sisters – an additional 10% off sale items, 15% off regularly priced items.
Cupcake Station – free regular coffee with a $2 purchase
Crazy Wisdom – 15% off one item
Acme Mercantile – 20% off regularly priced merchandise (Saturday Only)
Elmo’s T-Shirts – a FREE Michigan bumper sticker($4.95 value) with the purchase of any t-shirt at regular price (not already on sale) and a FREE tin lunch box ($9.95 value) with the purchase of a second t-shirt. 1 shirt, 1 sticker . 2 shirts, sticker and lunch box, a $14.90 value. Saturday and Sunday, Feb.6,7
Carillon Chocolates – BOGO ice cream cones or BOGO coffee (Saturday & Sunday)
Ann Arbor Art Center – 10% off in gift shop, 20% off for members

Also, there will be on-street bike parking in front of Mighty Good Coffee and Schakolad!

In the olden days, if you had a suggestion for bike parking in downtown Ann Arbor, it wasn’t very easy to figure out how to get that request considered.   Starting today, the DDA is making is easier for anyone to request bike parking downtown.  The DDA now has an online bicycle parking request form.

According to the DDA, you can use this form for the following reasons:

If you know of a downtown location that could benefit from additional bicycle parking, you have noticed a hoop in need of repair, or an abandoned bicycle – we want to hear from you. Please use the following form to make requests related to bicycle parking in the DDA area.

So consider yourself empowered to request more downtown bike parking.

Click here to check out the bicycle parking request form.

As long as it’s cold outside, we might as well enjoy it, right?  That’s the thinking behind downtown’s first Winter Warrior event, happening on Saturday, Feb6th from noon-6pm.  There will be special discounts on food and drinks, some special retail deals, plus we’ll be bringing out some of the on-street bike racks!

So if you bike or walk to work during the winter, reward yourself during the Winter Warrior event.  More info is below:

Calling All Winter Warriors February 6th

Saturday, February 6, 2010 Noon to 6pm

Become a Winter Warrior! This community event is all about encouraging the community to get outside and enjoy downtown Ann Arbor at a time of year during which coming outside is not quite so inviting. Restaurants and cafes will be bringing out their sidewalk furniture, and those guests who sit outside will enjoy specials such as $2 draught beers and $1 hot drinks (tea, coffee, soda, etc.).  Some businesses may also be offering food specials. Guests will receive a stamp on their receipt redeemable at participating downtown retailers for special warrior discounts. This is our way of saying, “Thank you for coming out and supporting our downtown businesses and community!”

Click here to view all of the Winter Warrior discounts.

Participating Downtown Businesses and Organizations Include:

Salon XL
Moosejaw
Jolly Pumpkin
Arbor Brewing Company
Cafe Felix
Salon Vox
Schakolad
Sole Sisters
Cupcake Station
BD’s Mongolian BBQ
Crazy Wisdom
The Blue Tractor
Grizzly Peak
Mighty Good Coffee
Acme Mercantile
Elmo’s T-Shirts
Carillon Chocolates
Ann Arbor Art Center

Click here to view all of the Winter Warrior discounts.