Every Friday we’ll be giving you the play by play of what happened with the Commuter Challenge that week.  Here’s our report from Week 4.

Commuter Challenge Report Week 4.

Week 4 was the final week of the Commuter Challenge.  We still have a couple days left of the Challenge next week and we’ll publish a summary of the results.  You have until Friday, June 3rd to log all of your commutes from the month.

This week was also a milestone because we had so much rain this year is now the rainiest on record for Ann Arbor!   Despite that fact, 1,921 green commutes were logged during the week.  Week 4 was carpool/vanpool week where individuals submitted their unique carpool and vanpool stories.   We should have some stories to share with you sometime next week.

Participation Stats

As of Friday, May 27th at 4:30pm, we’ve got 2,111 people registered for the Challenge from 200 different organizations. Compared to last year, we have slightly less people registered but many more organizations.  So far, 1,700 people have logged at least one green commute.  This almost matches the number of people who logged a green commute last year.  So keep it comin’!

Who’s Winning

Daily Prize Drawing Winners

We are giving out 6 prizes a day to folks who log a commute that matches the theme week.  This week we gave out prizes to folks who logged a carpool or vanpool commute.  Click here to check out who has won a daily prize so far!

Top 3 Commuter Challenge Organizations in each category, based on participation

Click here to see all the stats

1 person orgs  with 100% participation: Center for Simplified Strategic Planning, Inc,Community. Arts. Organizing., Keystone Media, Literacy Coalition of Washtenaw County, Professional Nanny, Simply Weddings, UM Chronobiology, UM-like2bike, Willow Wellness Studio, UM Temporary Staffing Services.
2-10 person orgs with 100% participation: Ann Arbor Film Festival, Dascola Barbers, Energy Works Michigan, Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice, The Greenway Collaborative, UM like2bike, Vincent Van Go – Livonia/Redford Vanpool, Mike Green and Associations, Washtenaw Area Transportation Study,
11-25 person orgs with 100% participation: SRT Solutions (100%), ApplEcon (100%), Nutshell (100%),
26-50 person orgs: My Buys (73%), Quinn Evans Architects (64%), Menlo Innovations (50%),
51-100 person orgs: Washtenaw Friend of the Court (55%), Workantile Exchange (53%), JJR (46%)
101-500 person orgs: Infor Global Solutions (66%), Google Ann Arbor (25%), UM Library (17%)
500+ person orgs: UM School of Public Health (22%), Thompson Reuters (15%), Zingerman’s Community of Businesses (13%).

Who’s Writing

During the Commuter Challenge, we’ve asked folks to write blog posts for us about their green commuting experiences.  We’ve also written some posts.  Click on the links below to read on.

• It’s never too late: a day in the life of a bus commuter, by Bonnie Valentine of Whole Brain Group
• Commuter Challenge inspires and motivates Energy Works Michigan staff
• Commuter Challenge Knock Knock joke by Vanessa Mayesky of the Literacy Coalition of Washtenaw County

Want to contribute your own thoughts?  Email nancy@getdowntown.org to find out how you can blog for us.

Next week is the last week to log your commutes!

You have until June 3rd to log all of your commutes for the Challenge.  And don’t forget to ask your captain or Ambassador to RSVP for the Commuter Challenge celebration, happening on June 8th!

What if you had an effortless commute? So effortless that you were dropped off right at your office each day? Think of the things that you would be missing out on: hunting for spaces in parking structures, long solo commutes to work, and paying for parking or paying for your gas. This is what vanpoolers get – red carpet, front-door-drop-off service. And they don’t have to drive (unless they want to.)

Why Rideshare?

Alice Cheesman works for the University of Michigan Health System’s Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation office. Alice lives in Tecumseh and was faced with a dilemma – her car was getting old, she didn’t want to buy a new car and yet she had to drive 30 miles each way to get to work. To save money and to keep her much-loved car for a little longer, she decided to try vanpooling. She also mentioned a commitment to commuting sustainably. “I don’t want to leave too many footprints,” she said. “And it saves gas and parking spaces.”

Alice and her MichiVan

Mark Benedict from the University of Michigan Health System’s Risk Management office said that it was gas prices that led him to try vanpooling. “My initial reason was to share gas costs, but found a lot of other benefits as well.  A big one was also sharing driving responsibility.  My vanpool’s commute averages an hour to an hour and a half one way everyday.”

Alice said that the only requirement for University of Michigan vanpoolers is that you have to do it for four out of the five days a week – you can definitely drive to work if you have plans after work or a doctor’s appointment during the day. She said, “The benefits overpower the inconvenience.”

Mark said that, “When gas prices hit over $3.50 per gallon, I was paying well over $400 a month just in driving to work.”

What Vanpooling is Like

When Alice mentioned her preconception of vanpooling it was, “that you’re stuck. That you can’t drive at all. One of the riders [in her vanpool] was hesitant to start – he didn’t want to give up the independence of his parking permit up. But it ended up that vanpooling was much better than he thought. You can come and go as you please.”

Mark said that, “The first thing is creating basic rules for the group to agree to and understanding the need to be flexible as much as possible to the needs of the group.  As a result, we agree to meet and leave at approximately 5:30 am.  Then it’s a matter of the different personality types in the van.  The quiet people keep to themselves while the more loquacious people keep the driver entertained for the 1.5 hour drive.  Frequently, people end up becoming closer as discussions arise about either work or family life.”

Alice would know: she’s the vanpool driver, meaning she picks up the other vanpool riders, she warms up the van on cold mornings and she’s the last one to get home. She admits that the vanpool takes an extra ½ hour of her time but she says, “it helps to have others in the van.” The other riders get to sleep, read or chat on their ride into work. Alice said of her other vanpoolers: “They trust me, which makes me feel good.”

Vanpooling, Carpooling and…Bike pooling?

Jennifer Schneider, Account Coordinator for MichiVan, explained that, “University of Michigan pays for the vanpools, they charge full-time UM employees $25 a month to ride in the vanpool, except the driver, and then the entire group splits the gas costs up.”

There are a minimum number of people required to get a vanpool started, for a University of Michigan vanpool its 6 riders including the driver, for a non-University of Michigan vanpool its 5 including the driver.  If a person that is not affiliated with the University of Michigan wants to join a UM vanpool, the monthly fee would start at $85, depending on how far away they live. A parking pass for a structure downtown costs $130 a month. Using this calculator, driving alone for a 50 mile commute could cost $200 a month. Vanpooling, by comparison, is a fraction of that total $330 cost.

In addition to Michivan, MIRideshare is a service that pairs vanpoolers and carpoolers together. If MichiVan doesn’t have a route that will work with your schedule, see if MIRideshare has any commuters that you could pair up with to create a carpool. It’s a free service and isn’t just reserved for carpoolers. They now have a bikepool option as well! If you commute via bike, you can be matched with other bike commuters to create your own bikepool.
Guarnateed Ride Home

MichiVan and MIRideshare both offer an emergency ride home service for commuters that vanpool, carpool and bikepool to work. The service pays for your cab ride home in the instance of a personal or family illness, unscheduled overtime, or maintenance issues with your bike. It can be used up to six times per year, and participants must be enrolled to benefit from this feature. Mark called it, “an amazing feature,” so click here for more information on this great benefit.

If you’re interested in joining a vanpool, would like to talk to current vanpoolers or have questions about how vanpooling or carpooling could work for you, contact us at 214-0100.

Some great new services for downtown employees and employers from getDowntown:

If you’re a little hesitant about busing, biking or carpooling to work downtown, you’re not alone. The world of sustainable transportation can be a little daunting.

That’s where we come in.  The getDowntown Program has experience with every commuting option you could think of (except maybe a pogo stick).

To make your life easier, we’ve created this handy Commuting Question form. All you have to do is type in your commuting question and we’ll send you a personal response.  Please note, this service is only available for employees/employers  in downtown Ann Arbor.

Click here to send us a Commuting Question.

Don’t have a question now?  Our Commuting Question form is on our website whenever you need it: getdowntown.org/resources/commutingquestion.html

Attention Downtown Employees, Managers, Admin Assistants, and HR Directors:

Wish you had a packet of commuting information for your employees?  Wish you could get all of your commuting materials delivered to your door? Wish granted!

You can now request materials from the getDowntown Program for all commuting options to downtown Ann Arbor.  From AATA Ride Guides to bike maps to new employee orientation guides, we have it all.

And every order comes with a free getDowntown pen!

Please note: this service is only available to downtown Ann Arbor employers/employees

Click here to request commuting materials from getDowntown.

FYI from MichiVan:

Vanpool From Webberville Area Needs 2 Additional Riders

Whether you are looking for a carpool partner or want to learn more about Zipcar here’s an overview of your ridesharing and carsharing options.  This Guide is saved as a page on the getDowntown blog and will be updated from that page.  Click here to view the most recent version of this Guide.

What is . . .

• A Carpool? Carpools are groups of two or more people who commute together using a vehicle provided by a person within the group.  A carpool can consist of co-workers, neighbors, friends, spouses, family members, roommates, or someone you just met through a rideshare site. Carpooling doesn’t require a commitment of five days a week. It can be once a week, every other week, or whatever works with your schedule.  There are a number of different ways you can set up a carpool, from having someone pay for gas while the other drives, to meeting at a set location and driving one car to work.  More on carpooling can be found by clicking here.

• A Vanpool? Vanpools are groups of five to fifteen people who commute together using a vehicle provided by the Michigan Department of Transportation (through MichiVan). The costs of commuting can be significantly reduced in vanpools due to the number of people sharing the rides.  For more on how vanpools are organized, click here.

• A Zipcar? Zipcars are “wheels when you want them”, literally.  Choose from a variety of self-service cars you can use by the hour or day. With Zipcars parked in downtown Ann Arbor (and on University of Michigan’s campus) all you’ll have to do is decide where you want to go and when. Click here for more details!
  

Finding a Carpool or Vanpool Partner

• MiRideshare: MiRidshare is a free and easy way for commuters working in Ann Arbor to find carpool and vanpool partners. This service is operated by the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority (AATA) and the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG).  MiRideshare works.  getDowntown has received stories of people who find great carpool partners on mirideshare.org.  One great part of MIRideshare is that you can get a Guaranteed Ride Home if you have to work late unexpectedly or get sick.  Learn more about MiRideshare by clicking here.

• MichiVan: Live far away from work, work consistent hours and want to share a ride with others?  A vanpool may be for you.  Click here to learn more about vanpooling with MichiVan.
  
  
• CarBuddy: CarBuddy is a new carpool service where you might also be able to find a carpool partner.  getDowntown hasn’t used this service, so I don’t know how it is.
  

Carpooling, Vanpooling and Zipcar Resources

• Map of Carpool Parking Lot Locations from MDot.
• Get a preferential downtown parking space at half price or cheaper when you form a carpool! Click here for details.
  
• Park your Carpool and Take the Bus: Park and Ride Lot information.
• MiRideshare website
• Zipcar website for UM Students, Faculty and Staff.
  
• Carpools and Vanpools at UM
  
• University of Michigan’s Ridesharing Website for UM Faculty and Staff
  
• Share a Ride Section of the getDowntown website
  
• MichiVan website
• Vanpools at the UM: Vanpool FAQs from the Unversity of Michigan (Word Document) and Vanpool welcome Guide (PDF).
  
• Van Pools Blog
• Carpool, Vanpool and Carsharing information from the getDowntown blog.
• #zipcar on Twitter

Share a Ride Hints and Tips

• Pooling Pointers from Mirideshare.
• Get a Zipcar Membership: If you sometimes need a car and you work downtown or at the UM, consider a Zipcar.  Zipcars allow you to check out a car by the hour for when you need it.  That way, you can keep your car at home.
• 10 tips for Sucessful Carpooling from Commuterpage.com