Cards Commuter Challengers prevent 2.3 tons of carbon pollution

From August 24- September 30, 2026, students, faculty and staff across the University of Louisville participated in the Cards Commuter Challenge, an annual competition sponsored by the university-wide Sustainability Council to encourage people to save money, burn calories, put an end to pollution, and win prizes…all by simply choosing to get to campus in a new way!

Participants explored their options, set up carpools, and recorded their trips on Cardinal Directions throughout the Challenge. Any trip by means other than driving alone increased their chances of winning the Grand Prize raffle!

Throughout the 2026 Challenge, the UofL community logged 792 trips on foot, bike, bus, carpool, or telecommute, saving $3875, mitigating 4,625 pounds of carbon pollution, and burning 90,902 calories over 7,592 miles.

Dr. Jacob Maxwell Read, Assistant Professor of Industrial & Systems Engineering, racked up the most miles (2,402) and kept the most carbon pollution out of the atmosphere (1,207 pounds) over 70 trips via carpool or telecommuting. Student Jonny Duran logged the most trips of anyone, carpooling and taking transit on 84 trips over 1,303 miles, mitigating 919 pounds of carbon emissions.

Our grand prize winner this year is Kristin Read, Manager of Activity Based Therapy at UofL’s Kentucky Spinal Cord Injury Research Center won the grand prize. Kristin carpooled 28 times for 1260 miles and walked 22 times for 11 miles. Her efforts alone kept 848 pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and saved her $526. On top of those savings, she also won the grand prize raffle and will enjoy a $50 shopping spree from our friends at Middle of Town Cycling!

Though this year's Challenge is over, we encourage you to keep up the momentum throughout the year! Register for free on the Cardinal Directions trip-finding and carpool-matching platform, and try these life-affirming alternatives to the expense, road-rage, pollution, and parking hassles of driving alone:

• BUS: Ride any TARC route free for UofL community with the Token Transit app.
• CARDpool: Organize your own carpool with friends, family, colleagues, or classmates; or find rides & offer rides online through Cardinal Directions.
• WALK, SKATE, or BIKE: Get your workout just by getting where you need to go under your own power! If you don't have your own bike, borrow one free from UofL Bikeshare.
• VANPOOL: Employees can get in on a vanpool, get your ride home guaranteed, or enter to win additional  prizes with Every Commute Counts.
• SKIP THE COMMUTE: Work or study from home for maximum convenience, savings, and safety!

Explore all of UofL's Sustainable Transportation Options

Top 15 Leaderboard (view full Leaderboard):