Summer 2012 Metro Commuter Challenge Starts Soon

Save energy. Save money. Get stuff. From Monday, July 9, through Friday, Aug. 3, Omaha metropolitan area employees can take the bus or carpool to work, log those trips, and get good prizes for doing so. population-we™ readers who live in the metro area are invited to participate.

The 2012 Metro Commuter Challenge is sponsored by the Metropolitan Area Planning Agency (MAPA) and Metro Transit. MAPA offers a free on-line carpool matching service for employees in the metro area, and MetroTransit’s bus system stretches from West Omaha to downtown.

The challenge is designed to reward not only those who take alternative transportation every day, but also those who want to try it for the first time. Never used alternative transportation? Find out how to try either Metro Rideshare or Metro Transit. Visit online resources on both to help you get started at http://www.mapacog.org/commuterchallenge.

If you’re not familiar with alternative transportation, MAPA and population-we™ encourages you to try it the whole month, a week or even a single day.

MAPA reports:

- Taking alternative transportation helps keep Omaha's air clean. Right now, Omaha’s air quality is close to reaching non-attainment of federal standards. That could mean heavy fines for the Big O!.

- Commuting to work by alternative transportation saves people in the metro up to $2,500 each year.

Most population-we™ readers know that Brian and I are committed to a sustainable lifestyle. We both already carpool. Since March 2011, we have carpooled 3-5 days out of the workweek from Elkhorn to our Omaha job sites. So, two population-we™ contributors will be among the participants logging our miles.

Everyone who participates is eligible for weekly raffle prizes. The three individuals with the most commutes and the three individuals with the most miles logged win an iPad, $100 Visa gift card or Joslyn Museum family membership. For this challenge MAPA is focusing on bus and carpool, but you can get bonus points for walking/riding your bike to the bus stop or carpool. The company with the most commutes and miles per participants gets bragging rights and a plaque.

To register and find out all the rules and prizes, visit http://www.mapacog.org/commuterchallenge.

Questions? Contact: Kara Focht, MAPA rideshare intern, at kfocht@mapacog.org.


In celebration of the 42nd anniversary of Earth Day population-we™ staffers will celebrate our love for planet earth with regular green posts the entire year! Thanks for reading our recent pop-we eco-living tips' feature on the 2012 Metro Commuter Challenge.

- population-we™ blog post by Becky Bohan Brown 

© 2012 population-we, LLC

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