Commuter Challenge

2025 Commuter Challenge Information

Prizes

Organization Prizes

The workplaces with the highest participation rate in their respective size category will win a lunch celebration catered by Sweetgreen!

Organization size categories: 
Small (2-20 employees) 
Medium (21-49 employees) 
Large (50-100 employees) 
Extra Large (101+ employees) 

Individual Prizes

Every participant that logs at least one sustainable commute will earn a voucher for a free scoop of ice cream from Washtenaw Dairy. 

Additionally, participants may win one of a dozen gift cards from various local Ann Arbor businesses, including Comet Coffee, Zingerman’s, Detroit Street Filling Station, Jerusalem Garden, Slurping Turtle, and more! To learn more about how to be entered to win gift cards, review the ‘Calendar’ section below. 

Challenge Captain Prizes

Challenge Captains are employees who go above and beyond to help coordinate their workplace’s participation in the Commuter Challenge. To learn more about the role, or to sign up as a Challenge Captain, click here. 

Rules

Only commute trips (trips to work, trips from work, and telework) count for this challenge. Participants should have a qualifying address in their profile for their work or home address to win prizes. Qualifying trips must be recorded on win.getdowntown.org by 11:59pm ET June 2, 2025 to be counted toward the Commuter Challenge. 

Workplaces 
Qualifying workplaces can compete during the Commuter Challenge, May 1 – 31, 2025, to achieve the most participation in their size category (see below). Four workplaces will win a catered lunch celebration at their worksite after the challenge. Workplaces with addresses in the City of Ann Arbor, City of Ypsilanti, or Ypsilanti Township are eligible for the workplace prize. Only commute trips (trips to work, trips from work and telework) count for the Commuter Challenge.  
 
Each workplace will need to identify a main point of contact to communicate with the getDowntown program, known as the Challenge Captain. The Challenge Captain must identify themselves and register by May 17.  
 
Organization size categories: 
 Small (2-20 employees) 
 Medium (21-49 employees) 
 Large (50-100 employees) 
 Extra Large (101+ employees) 
  
Ann Arbor DDA, AAATA and City of Ann Arbor are not eligible to win workplace prizes. In the case of a tie for highest participation rate within a category, the category winner will be determined to be the workplace team with greater average miles not driven. 

FAQs & Tech Help

Why does this program exist? 

The goal of the Commuter Challenge is to help community members become more inclined to commute via walking, biking, carpooling, vanpooling, and taking the bus in May and after the competition.

What are the dates of the event? 

Commute trips taken May 1 - 31, 2025 count towards the challenge.  

Am I eligible to participate? 

This challenge is for people who live or work in the City of Ann Arbor, City of Ypsilanti, or Ypsilanti Township 

Can I participate by myself? 

Yes. We encourage co-workers to join the challenge together and try get as many employees as possible trying an alternative way of commuting at least one day this May. See the ‘Marketing' tab for materials to help recruit coworkers. If you are the only person from your workplace who signs up, you could still win individual prizes. Solo entrepreneurs can register their organization to participate in the solopreneur contest here. 

How do I register? 

You can sign up at win.getdowntown.org. All you need to do is add your workplace to your profile and start logging trips! If you’re the first person at your workplace to register, we will reach out about designating a Challenge Captain. 

How do I earn prizes? 

To learn more about challenge prizes, see the ‘Prizes’ tab above. In addition to the prizes and incentives for the Commuter Challenge, you may also earn points that can be redeemed for discounts at local businesses. These points are unrelated to the Commuter Challenge. 

What are the prizes? 

See the Prizes section of this page for detailed information about prizes. getDowntown will provide prizes at levels that fall within the IRS safe harbor for de minimis limits.  

Where can I find all the activities happening during the challenge?

The 'Commuter Challenge Calendar' tab below is a good resource for activities related to the Commuter Challenge.

Where can I find resources to help me with alternative commuting?

Many resources for bike, bus, rideshare and walking can be found on getdowntown.org/commuter-resources. Additional tools to help you recruit your co-workers can be found under the 'Marketing Materials' tab on this page.

Why do I have to log the starting and ending location of my trips?

Logging where your trips began and concluded helps calculate the greenhouse gasses that could be saved from your trip. The getDowntown program measures and reports the collective miles travelled and the estimated impact on greenhouse gas emissions of those participating in the challenge.  

How are the winners chosen? 

See the 'Rules' tab of this page for detailed information about how prizes are distributed.  

What should I do if I’m experiencing a glitch with the website or app?

Please don’t be shy about pointing out a bug you are experiencing! We might not know about the issue so explaining what you are experiencing to us will help get it fixed. Contact the getDowntown Program at information@getdowntown.org

What should I do if I have questions that aren’t answered in the FAQ?

Contact the getDowntown Program at information@getdowntown.org. We want you have to a great experience so get in touch!

Marketing Toolkit

We are happy to share materials to help encourage participation in the Commuter Challenge. Materials for the 2025 challenge are linked below. 

• Join the challenge flyer (PDF)
• Virtual background (for Zoom or Teams)

Resources for bike, bus, rideshare and walking can be found on getdowntown.org/commuter-resources. 

May is also National Bike Month. Find information and resources regarding biking here.

 

Commuter Challenge Calendar

Each week, the Commuter Challenge will highlight a different method of sustainable commuting. See below for sustainable transportation events and opportunities to win gift cards to local Ann Arbor businesses. 

May 1 – 3 are Creative Commute Days. 

• Log a commute trip between April 22 - May 3 to be entered into a drawing for a Spin gift card in our early start contest.
• Log a telework commute May 1 - 31 to be entered into a drawing for a Slurping Turtle gift card.
• New users who record a green commute May 1 - 31 will be entered to win a Comet Coffee gift card.
• Social Media* Challenge: Comment on our Instagram or Facebook post letting us know what you're doing to prepare for the challenge for a chance to win a gift card!

May 4 – 10 is Carpool Week.  

• Join our launch event on May 7 with Ann Arbor SPARK and the Green Business Challenge.
• Log a carpool trip to be entered to win a gift card from Zingerman’s.
• Social Media* Challenge: Share a picture with your carpool buddies! Tag @getdowntown to be entered to win a Pretzel Bell gift card!

May 11 – 17 is Bike Week.

• Join Bike to Wherever Day on May 14!
• Log a bike trip May 11 – 17  to be entered to win a gift card from Jerusalem Garden.
• Social Media* Challenge: Share a photo of your favorite (or least favorite) Ann Arbor hill to ride on! Tag @getdowntown to be entered to win a Pretzel Bell gift card.

May 18 – 24 is Transit Week.  

• Log a transit trip May 18 – 24 to be entered to win a gift card from Detroit Street Filling Station.
• Social Media* Challenge: Share your bus stop view! Post a photo from a bus stop and tag @getdowntown to be entered to win a Vault of Midnight gift card!

May 25 – 31 is Walk Week.  

• Log a walking trip May 25 – 31 to be entered to win a gift card to The Blue Nile.
• Social Media* Challenge: Comment on our Instagram or Facebook post with what you're listening to during your walk commute to be entered to win a Vault of Midnight gift card!

June 1 – 7 is A2Zero Week. 

• Log a green commute during A2Zero Week to be entered to win a bonus gift card.

 

*To participate in social media challenges, you must post to a public account on Instagram or Facebook and tag/mention the getDowntown program's account. If your account is private, you can email photos to info@getdowntown.org to participate.