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

To view all of the Moped and Motorcycle Spaces, click here.

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

“It couldn’t be simpler. I get on at the end of the block. It feels like it takes 5 minutes. And it’s always on time.”

Nicole Trinkle (pronounced Trink-lee) has nothing but good things to say about the new a2Chelsea Express.

The Ann Arbor Transportation Authority (AATA) started the a2Chelsea Express on May 15, and Nicole was one of the first people to get on the bus. The a2Chelsea Express runs from Chelsea to downtown Ann Arbor twice in the morning and twice in the afternoon during peak commuting times. And it just takes about 20 minutes.

Nicole works for the Whole Brain Group, a software development and accreditation company in downtown Ann Arbor. She grew up in Chelsea, got her degree from Eastern, and now enjoys saving money, catching up on sleep and reading books on the a2Chelsea Express.

Nicole is one of the many people who get on the a2Chelsea Express every morning at the Arctic Coliseum in Chelsea. Some of the other bus riders include a lawyer, a landscape architect and UM employees. And the coolest part is the bus drops Nicole off a block from her work!

But Nicole doesn’t just ride the a2Chelsea Express for conveniences’ sake. It also saves her a huge amount of money. How much? If you include the cost for parking and gas, Nicole figures she’s saving well over $200 a month by taking the bus, even including the $125 a month she pays to ride the bus.

To make the cost of commuting even cheaper, the Whole Brain Group is looking to provide their employees with a sustainable transportation benefit, which other companies such as Inner Circle Media already provide. GetDowntown also let Nicole know about the Commuter Choice Tax Benefit, which allows employers to give their workers up to $115 each month for transit or vanpool commuting costs as a tax-free benefit. To find out more about the Commuter Choice Tax Benefit, go here: http://www.apta.com/research/info/online/paystoride.cfm

In addition to getting some sleep on the bus, Nicole has also read three books during her morning and afternoon trips. Right now, she’s in the middle of The Other Boleyn Girl. In her spare time, Nicole really enjoys painting, scrapbooking and being crafty.

When asked what advice she would give other people who are thinking about riding the bus, Nicole says she’s learned to plan ahead so that she can do things like coordinate rides once she’s at work. So when there’s a networking event, Nicole carpools with co-workers to that event, so she doesn’t have to worry about needing a car. Another cool feature of the a2Chelsea Express is that it offers a Guareented Ride Home, so if Nicole did need to get home or somewhere else in an emergency, she’d be able to get a free cab ride.

Nicole also reminds people that you can take a trial run on the a2Chelsea Express and ride free for a week. So there is no cost just to try it out and see if you like it.

Nicole is just one of the many people who are saving money and helping the environment by riding the a2Chelsea Express. If you live in the Chelsea area, why not join people like Nicole and get on the bus? You can find out more here: http://www.theride.org/A2chelsea.asp

In an article in the Ann Arbor News today, John Mulcahy reports that more and more people are riding AATA buses.  One of the primary reasons cited in the article is the rise in gas prices.

While many of the riders on the buses are affiliated with the UM, the article reports that recently, some of the ridership increases are due to other, non-UM folk riding the bus.

And, as reported in the article, I am seeing increased use of the go!pass, which allows downtown employees to ride the buses for free.

The one thing the article doesn’t talk about is that more people riding the bus doesn’t mean more bus service.  Apparently, since fare revenue (the amount a person pays to use the bus) is so low relative to the total cost of operating a bus, it’s hard to increase service when lots more people ride the bus.

In some ways, I am ok with this.  The bus is like a public good, and it’s important that the cost is kept low so that all sorts of people can use the service.  However, in other ways, this really frustrates me because it means that we must rely on government or other sources of funding to increase service.  And it’s not always easy to get that money.

I hope that as more and more people ride the bus, more people will see the value of having excellent bus service.  This in turn will demonstrate to policy makers (and perhaps private companies) that all of us want a high level of bus service, rail service, etc.

So in all, I think it’s fantastic that there are more people riding the bus.  Let’s keep showing our support for public transit, both by riding the bus and by speaking out about the need for high quality service.

Well it is.

According to the AATA, the number of people boarding an AATA bus and putting their bikes on the bus has been increasing for the last several years.

In May 2008, there were 3,056 bus boardings with bikes.  This is up 18% from 2,593 bike boardings for May 2007.

What might account for this increase?  Well it makes sense that as more people ride the bus, more people will bring their bikes on the bus.  But I also wonder if some of the reason is that people are biking from further away to catch the bus.  Or perhaps more people are just biking in general, and that is leading to more bikes on the bus.

Another interesting stat that I just came across is how many people in the downtown report commuting by bike:

In a 2001 UM study, 2.2% of people surveyed reported commuting by bike to the downtown.
In a 2005 UM study, the percentage increased to 4.2%
And in a study conducted last year (October 2007) by getDowntown (which had similar numbers of survey respondents), the bike commuting percentage was 7.4%

So according to the data at hand, there definitely seems to be an increase in the numbers of people bike commuting, as I surmised in yesterday’s post.

The reason this is so surprising is because I had been told that these spots are never full.

I’m seeing the same phenomenon with non-motorized bikes.  It seems like everywhere I turn downtown there is a bike parked at a bike hoop, or on a sign, or on a tree.

Now, I’ve not worked downtown before, so perhaps the increase in bikes and bikers happens just like this every summer.  But I wonder if it’s even more pronounced this year because of gas prices.

That’s the problem with observation . . . you can see something, but you don’t really know if it’s statistically accurate or not.

So, I’d be really interested in hearing from folks who have recently started biking to work (either on a bike or a moped/motorcycle) as a result of high gas prices, or for another reason.

You can email me your thoughts at getdowntown@annarborchamber.org

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.

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

Read all about Bike Fest Here

Read all about Green Commute Here