Commuter Challenge Overview and Rules

getDowntown Commuter Challenge Overview & Rules

May is Challenge Month!  The getDowntown Commuter Challenge is a friendly competition between local businesses and organizations to see who can log the most sustainable commutes throughout from May 1-May 31.

Commuter Challenge Rules

1. Organizations compete against like-sized organizations. If you are a larger organization (100+ employees), we do allow you to split apart and register as a specific division or department. Organizational size categories are:

1 employee                                 26-50 employees                 500+ employees

2-10 employees                          51 -100 employees

11-25 employees                      101-500 employees

2. Log sustainable commutes and miles on our online commute log: http://www.getdowntown.org/programs/commuter/index.html

Every registered organization will have a login to the Commuter Challenge.  If you forget your login, please have the Team Leader (the person who signed up the organization for the Commuter Challenge) or contact getDowntown by phone or email.  That login will allow individuals to log their commutes (either by the day or by the week) into the commute log. We also have paper forms for organizations & employees that do not have access to the Internet.  These forms are included in this packet. 

Definition of a Sustainable Commute. A sustainable commute is a commute to and from work on a given day that involves a sustainable mode of transportation.  Sustainable modes of transportation include walking, biking, busing, carpooling/vanpooling, mopeding/motorcycling, telecommuting, using a longboard/skateboard, etc.  For example, if you carpool with someone else from your office to work, that would be a sustainable commute.  If you drive to a Park and Ride Lot and then ride the bus or bike to work, you would count the bus or bike trip as your sustainable commute.  If you are unsure if your commute is sustainable, please contact us.

Telecommuting Rules: You can log telecommuting miles if it is eliminating a trip to office for you. If you live in New York & work for an Ann Arbor office, you cannot participate in this challenge. You must be able to commute to your workplace on a daily basis.

Carpool Rules: If you are carpooling with someone else at your organization, both of you may enter that you did a carpool commute.  If you want to make sure your miles are not double counted, please split the number of miles by the number of people who are carpooling.

Commute Log Rules: All miles must be submitted by June 4th.  Log only trips to & from work & any errands along the way. Bike rides to the store on the weekend are great, but do not count for the Commuter Challenge

How an Organization can Win the Commuter Challenge.   The organization with the highest average points per employee in their organizational category wins!  Both having lots of people participate and having people log many sustainable commutes will help you win the Challenge.  So you benefit from both having a lot of participants and a couple of zealots!  If there is a tie for the most points, both will win!  To be considered a participant in the Commuter Challenge, you must have used a sustainable mode of transportation for your commute at least once during the month of May.

 For more information call or email getDowntown at 734.214.0100 or info@getdowntown.org.