As I visit various businesses in the downtown, I hear a common refrain: "I live too far away to bus, bike or walk."  Well, for those of you looking for reduced commuting stress and cheaper gas and parking costs, there is an alternative.  It's called vanpooling.  MichiVan (www.michivan.com) runs the commuter vanpool program for the state of Michigan.

• A picture guide of how to put your bike on the bus
  
  

• AATA unveils it's new hybrid buses and starts a contest to name the bug
  
  

• A cool tool you can use to track the money and carbon emissions you save as well as the calories you burn by trying another form of transportation.
  
  

• Which businesses have go!passes? Check out the stats.

The award you see at the left is the first of it's kind, ever.  But it won't be the last.

I know there are a lot of downtown businesses that are doing what they can to encourage their employees to bike, bus, walk, carpool, etc. to work.

Think your business has what it takes to win this award?  Email me at nancy@annarborchamber.org describing what your business does and we will see what we can do.

Pure Visibility won the Commuter-Friendly Business Award from the getDowntown Program for the following reasons:

• They actually have two company cars that their employees can use during the day so they don't have to drive to work. This has been a great way to encourage employees to take the bus and walk because they know they have a guaranteed ride when they need one.
  
  
• They are avid go!pass users. Especially Ed Vielmetti, local blogger extraordinaire, who sang the praises of the AATA's RideTrak software, which allows him to know exactly when a bus will be at his stop, so he doesn't' have to wait in the cold (to use online, simply click on the RideTrak Link above and select your route to find out where the bus is).
  
  
• Manager Catherine Juon encourages her employees to choose alternatives to driving in their cars alone. As a result of management support, many employees walk, bike and bus because they want to and see the benefits of their choice.

• Want to learn how to get your employees to bus, bike, walk etc.?
  
  
• Interested in what other downtown businesses are doing?
  
  
• Want to let the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority, Downtown Development Authority, City of Ann Arbor and Chamber of Commerce hear what your business thinks about commuting to the downtown?
  
  
• Want to get personal updates on what's happening with commuting to the downtown?