Thanks to the enthusiastic participation from Ann Arbor businesses and organizations, this year's getDowntown Commuter Challenge had more green commuters than ever walking, biking and even kayaking to work. 

Every year, the getDowntown Program hears from participants about how the Commuter Challenge has impacted their lives:

• “It was just the kick in the pants I needed to start actually biking to work instead of just thinking about maybe doing it someday.”—Journal of Clinical Investigation employee

• “People talk about it at work, and it makes people aware that a car is not necessary for every single trip they make.”—Arbor Research Collaborative for Health employee

• “By taking the bus or walking I was able to read all my overnight email and be more effective at my job by hitting the ground 'caught up' from the incidents and issues from overnight."—Thomson Reuters - Healthcare and Science employee

On Wednesday night at Conor O’Neill’s Celtic Room, the getDowntown Program shared the results of the Commuter Challenge. Mayor John Hieftje, as well as other distinguished guests, presented the awards to the winning Commuter Challenge organizations and individuals.

2010 Commuter Challenge Awards:

getDowntown Leadership Award to Bill Wilson, Manager, at Thomson Reuters - Healthcare and Science. According to one employee, “Bill rides to work almost every day on his bicycle…snow, sleet and rain. He cares about our environment and is conscientious of his energy usage, the impact of our corporation on the environment. Plus he’s a brilliant software engineer, musician, co-worker and a good manager."

Super Commuter Award to Alan Zoltowski of Washtenaw County Trial Court, Friend of the Court. According to a co-worker, “Alan is a tireless, fearless bicyclist and commutes 36 miles round trip each day from his home in Canton to our office in Ann Arbor. Rain never stops him! Alan is an inspiration to us all during our commuter challenge. Alan’s positive attitude has encouraged [a co-worker] to get out there more and not just be a 'fair-weather commuter.' Plus his consistency in commuting has given the rest of our office pause to think about finding other alternative ways to get to work.”

Multi-Modal Super Commuter Award to Gene Darnell, of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory, who did six different types of commutes during the Commuter Challenge.

Alpha Ambassador Award to Katy Derezinski of Thompson Reuters Healthcare and Science.

Most Miles Biked and Most Miles Walked Awards to Kathleen Vonk, of the City of Ann Arbor, who logged 733 bike commute miles during the challenge. And Xiaohong Wu of the Washtenaw County Finance Department, who logged 140 miles walking.

Commuter-Friendly Workplace Awards
The Commuter-Friendly Workplace awards are given to the organizations who won the Commuter Challenge in their size category. Winning was determined by which organization had the highest number of average sustainable commutes (walk, bike, bus, carpool/vanpool, telecommute, moped/motorcycle, etc.) per employee.

2010 Commuter-Friendly Workplace Award Winners

• 1 person organization: Andrea Yun of the Ann Arbor Cello School (34 average commutes per employee)
• 2-10 person organization: Dascola Barbers (24.5 average commutes per employee)
• 11-25 person organization: ApplEcon (22.2 average commutes per employee)
• 26-50 person organization: Quinn Evans Architects (9.9 average commutes per employee)
• 51-100 person organization: UM College of Engineering, Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space Sciences (6.1 average commutes per employee)
• 101-500 person organization: JSTOR (5.9 average commutes per employee)
• 500+ person organization: Thomson Reuters-Healthcare and Science (2.5 average commutes per employee)

Commuter Challenge Statistics
Here is a rundown of the 2010 Commuter Challenge statistics compared to the previous years:

Number of organizations participating
2010: 164
2009: 138
2008: 117

Number of people participating (logged at least 1 sustainable commute)
2010: 1,848
2009: 1,748
2008: 1,482

Total number of sustainable commutes logged
2010: 20,522
2009: 19,967
2008: 16,609

Fun fact
If all of these people drove alone for those 20,522 commutes, that would be equal to filling up every downtown parking structure and lot with cars for 5 days in a row!

Total sustainable miles logged and CO2 avoided
2010: 326,992 miles and 279,871 lbs
2009: 286,883 miles and 253, 433 lbs
2008: 247,413 miles and 211,760 lbs

Fun fact
What is 326,992 miles? That’s like driving around the earth 13 times!

By not driving those miles alone, Commuter Challenge participants saved a collective $441,535 for the month. That’s like each person in the Commuter Challenge getting a $239 bonus for the month!

The amount of CO2 (a greenhouse gas) avoided during the Commuter Challenge is equivalent to:
The C02 emissions from 14,280 gallons of gasoline and 295 barrels of oil
The C02 equivalent of the energy use of 10 homes for a year
The amount of carbon sequestered annually by 27 acres of pine or fir forest or by 3,255 tree seedlings grown for 10 years.

Total Commuter Challenge Ambassadors
2010: 33
2009: 60
2008: 47

Evaluation of the Commuter Challenge
The getDowntown Program is conducting a survey to evaluate the success of the Commuter Challenge, including if the Challenge changed commuting behavior, how many people used sustainable transportation for the first time and more. The results of that survey can be provided upon request.