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

Last week the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority began running the A2 Chelsea Express

This is an awesome service, because they are using Coach Buses, with nice padded seats and the bus goes on the highway, so it doesn’t take that long.

This Commuter Bus service departs the Arctic Coliseum (501 Coliseum Dr.) in Chelsea at 6:14 and 7:11am and arrives in downtown Ann Arbor around 6:30 and 7:30am.  The service leaves downtown Ann Arbor at around 3:50 and 5:19pm and gets back to Chelsea at 4:15 and 5:44pm.  View the schedule here.

The service costs just $125 a month, which is cheaper than paying for gas for the same distance!

And the bus has a guaranteed ride home program, so if you need to get home or somewhere else in a emergency, AATA will pay to get you there.

Don’t believe it’s cheaper?  Take the MDOT Cost Calculator and see for yourself.   I plugged into the calculator that I:

• work full time (21 days a month)
• commute 32 miles roundtrip daily (the distance from Chelsea to A2)
• pay $3.49 a gallon for gas (which is cheap these days)
• my car gets 30 miles to the gallon
• and I am not paying for parking

With just those numbers, the calculator estimates my cost for driving at $367.14 a month!

So consider taking this bus so you can save money on gas and parking.

Learn more about the A2 Chelsea Bus by clicking here

getDowntown has partnered with Walker Tracker to create an Ann Arbor community for all of you walkers out there.  Walker Tracker is an online community where you can log your steps and see how you compare to others in your community.  You can also share thoughts about your walking experience.  This is a free service.  You can sign up here: http://annarbor.walkertracker.com/

During Curb Your Car Month we are going to be having a competition on Walker Tracker to see who can log the most steps for the month of May.  The winner gets a $25 gift certificate to the downtown restaurant of their choice!

All you need is a pedometer and you can start logging your steps on May 1.  If you don’t have a pedometer, the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority is offering free pedometers to the first 30 people who request them.  So email me (getdowntown@annarborchamber.org) if you want a pedometer and I can get one for you from the DDA (if you are among the first 30).  If you would like to buy your own pedometer, I know they sell them at Fourth Avenue Birkenstock.

So please sign-up on the Walker Tracker Ann Arbor Community.  And tell your friends to sign up, too!   Sign up here: http://annarbor.walkertracker.com/

The nice folks at the City of Ann Arbor recently created this map showing all of the parking locations for mopeds and motorcycles in the downtown Ann Arbor area.

Hopefully, this will help those who aren’t sure where they can park.

Ann Arbor now joins the ranks great cities like Seattle, Austin and Portland with our very own Google Transit.

Google Transit is a Google Map enabled program that lets you find the best AATA bus route to take from one place to another.

I’ve tried it on a couple of different routes (my home to work, my work to Kensington Court Hotel over at Briarwood) and it seems to be working pretty well.  However, it’s always good to keep in mind that this is a computer program, so it might not always give you the best suggestions.  But it’s clear and easy to understand and goes a long way to helping new people get comfortable with the bus.  I’d love to know what you think.

To check out Ann Arbor’s Google Transit, go here: Google Transit Ann Arbor

Want to know how much (or how little) your business is polluting the environment when people drive to work?

Find out with this Environmental Impact Calculator 

I read it through the blogvine that Arborwiki is amassing quite the info on AATA bus routes.

You can view the Transportation Category for info on some routes as well as info on other transportation options

And you can also find more specific info on AATA routes including maps (at least I found this one for Route 12B).

Lot’s of good stuff to be seen.  Now let’s continue to add to it.

As a year ’round cyclist, I know the importance of good winter gear for my commute.

Some essential items:

• Windproof mittens (I got a great pair for $20 at Sam’s).
• Insulated and Waterproof boots (both good for the cold factor and so your nice work shoes don’t get messy).
• Wind and waterproof jacket and pants (I treated mine with that waterproofing spray).
• When it gets really cold, I wear a snow suit, which insulates and protects from the wind.
• Some sort of combination hat/scarf/balaclava that covers both the head and the chin.  A cold chin is no fun!
• Lots of Zippers so you can unzip a layer when you get hot.

For more ideas, check out this post on Life Hacker discussing the Best Gear for Winter Cycling.

In case you didn’t know, getDowntown has a Facebook group.

If you like what we do, I’d love for you to join our group.

Check it out here: getDowntown Facebook Group

I just updated the “Share a Ride” Section of the getDowntown website with new and updated resources for those looking to carpool, vanpool or learn more about Zipcar.  Check it out here: http://www.getdowntown.org/ride/index.html