It’s that time of year again.  The Ann Arbor Art Fairs will descend upon downtown Ann Arbor from Weds. July 16-Sat. July 19th.

Because the Art Fair’s close many downtown streets and parking prices increasing during this time, you might be looking for other commuting options during this time.

getDowntown has created a page on our website with info on Art Fair Commuting, from which streets will be closed, to what you need to know to get around.

Check it out here: www.getdowntown.org/resources/Commuting_during_Art_Fair.html

Perhaps you are thinking about busing, carpooling or vanpooling and need another financial incentive to get you motivated.  Perhaps you are an employer looking for ways to encourage your employees to use sustainable transportation to get to work.

Either way, you should definitely check out the Commuter Choice Tax Benefit.

A little about the benefit:

“The law allows employers to give their workers up to $115 each month for transit or vanpool commuting costs as a tax-free benefit. It also allows employers to give employees the option to use payroll deductions to avoid paying taxes on up to $115 a month in commuting costs. Alternatively, employers can share these costs with their workers by paying part of their monthly commuting costs and letting workers pay the balance using pre-tax dollars. Either way, both employers and their employees can save money by participating in this simple plan.”

Check it all out here: http://www.apta.com/research/info/online/paystoride.cfm

If you haven’t already read The Tipping Point by Malcom Gladwell, I definitely recommend it.  The Tipping Point is commonly described as “any point when a gradual change quickens and becomes irreversible”.

Some people are wondering if we have reached this point with sustainable transportation because of high gas prices.

That’s the idea discussed in this recent Wall Street Journal Article.

But I don’t think you need to read the article to see what’s going on.  More people that ever are getting on the bus, biking, walking, carpooling, etc. I definitely see this happening in Ann Arbor, where the number of people participating in the Commuter Challenge almost doubled from last year.

I have heard many people remark that they have carpooled, biked, taken the bus, etc. for the first time recently.

So how do you change people’s behavior?  I think gas prices can definitely help.

Hello all,

Looks like we will still be going ahead with the Green Fair, Bike Fest and Green Commute since the forecast is only calling for a 40% chance of rain.  So do the no rain dance and come on down!

It’s all happening between 6pm-9pm on Main Street and Liberty Street in Downtown Ann Arbor

As part of the Mayor’s Green Fair, getDowntown is helping organize a Bike Fest and Green Commute section of the Green Fair.  We will have tons or great activities, including rides on the Seven Person Conference Bike, an AATA Hybrid Bus, a Zipcar, and much much more!

Read all about Bike Fest Here

Read all about Green Commute Here

Want to see the Commuter Challenge through the eyes of someone who lived it?  You can by checking out Cedric Richner’s Commuter Challenge Blog. Cedric works for Richner and Richner as a fundraising consultant.

Here are a couple of snippets:

“May 1: Today is the beginning of my vow to not use my car for the entire month. I walked down to the bus stop, chest thrust out- nose in the air- and dismissively eyed the mass of humanity in their gas guzzling behemoths. I could practically hear them cackling with glee as they raced through the streets relentlessly pursuing their demonic mission to destroy the earth with their over the top, self absorbed singular focus on sucking the planet’s resources dry one commuter, one commute at a time. . . .”

“May 5: Today marks the day of my first official client visit via my bike. I was about to leave on the three mile ride to the client site when a co-worker told me that she was going to be driving right by where I needed to go… What could I do? What would you have done? . . .”

“May 7: Warning! Beware of any company that employees a guy named Rooney, William
Vice President, Security Strategy and Special Operations… You just know that you are going to be in for a bad experience. Rooney, William works for a company called “Amtrak”. You might have heard of it…”

Read Cedric’s Commuter Challenge blog here

The AATA and SEMPCOG just introduced Michigan Rideshare.  This computer program will allow you to create an account and view people who want to carpool and vanpool to work.  The site is officially live today so we need people to start using it so we have some matches.

You can create an account by going here: https://mirideshare.org

Want to learn more? join others who want to carpool and vanpool tonight at Conor O’Neill’s Celtic Room.  More info here.

getDowntown would like to announce the following winners of our weekly prize drawings:

Monday go!pass drawing winners: Ann Jacobs, Arbor Research Collaborative for Health and Elizabeth Sharon, Miller Canfield

Carpool/Vanpool Tuesday drawing winner: Casey Brooks, Arbor Brewing Company

Walk to Work Wednesday Winner: Julie Sverid, People’s Food Co-op

To see what these people won, and the prizes for the upcoming drawings, go here: Weekly Prize Drawings.

Tonight, getDowntown is partnering with the Ann Arbor District Library to bring you a panel discussion featuring local commuters who are living car-less and car-lite.  The idea is to also have audience participation for this event, so please come and share your stories, too!

Here’s the blurb about the event (from the AADL website):

Car-lite, Car-less: A Panel Discussion On How We Commute to Work

Thursday May 8, 2008: 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm — Downtown Library: Multi-Purpose Room

Ever marvel at the bicyclists zooming by you in traffic downtown? Or gaze enviously at pedestrian commuters? Hear what local commuters Ed Vielmetti, Alaine Karoleff, Scott Munzel and Tamara Real have to say about their alternative commutes. The panelists will discuss their methods, challenges and surprises they encounter, and how using a sustainable mode of transportation helps them get more out of their commute.

This event is cosponsored by the getDowntown Program and the Ann Arbor Area Chamber of Commerce in celebration of Curb Your Car Month. The getDowntown Program (www.getdowntown.org) encourages/assists downtown commuters in the use and development of sustainable transportation choices and is a partnership between the Ann Arbor Chamber of Commerce, the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority, the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority, and the City of the Ann Arbor.

A recent article on Entrepreneur.com discusses the increasing trend of businesses encouraging their employees to use sustainable transportation to get to work.

The article cites increasing gas prices and awareness of the realities of global warming as the top reasons behind this trend.

And the things businesses are doing to encourage sustainable transportation can be done right here in Downtown Ann Arbor:

• Pay for transit use. Many downtown businesses already do this with the go!pass
• Pay for carpool and vanpool use. Now that getDowntown is offering preferential parking for carpools and vanpools, this idea makes even more financial sense.
• Give out Bikes to employees. Not sure if any downtown business is doing this yet, but if you do, let me know.
• Offer showers and lockers for cyclists. At the very least, businesses can demonstrate they want to encourage cycling by offering free memberships to the Y, or even just learning more about resources for cyclists in our community.
• Encourage employees to live close enough to walk. Ann Arbor was recently rated the 3rd best city for walking in the whole nation. What can your business do to encourage employees to live close enough to walk to work?
• Offer employees incentives to try a sustainable commute. It’s easy to do that in downtown Ann Arbor, all you have to do is sign up your business for the Commuter Challenge. getDowntown does the rest! But if you really want to offer your own prizes and incentives, that would also be good.

So join the trend. All the other cool businesses are doing it!