Cards Commuter Challengers prevent 2.37 tons of carbon pollution over 6,919 miles, saving $3463, and burning 123,529 calories!
From August 25- September 30, 2025, 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 recorded their trips on Cardinal Directions throughout the Challenge, and each week they had the chance to win one of the $50 weekly prizes or the $250 Grand Prize! Any trip by means other than driving alone increased your chances of winning.
Weekly $50 Winners:
- Art Professor, Rachel Singel, who pedaled 96 miles on 14 bike commutes during the first week;
- Clayton Steffan, a student who walked to/from campus six times times during Week 2;
- Jessi Stivers, a Physical Plant Administrative Assistant, rode TARC free to/from work six days during the 3rd week; and
- Dentistry staff, Clinton Coulter, who biked to and from work every day in week 4.
FINAL RESULTS:
We were thrilled with our collective accomplishments: Over the five weeks, participants logged 775 trips on foot, bike, bus, carpool, or telecommuting, mitigating 2.37 tons of carbon pollution over 6,919 miles, saving $3463, and burning 123,529 calories!
Congratulations go out to Kristin Benton, an Activity Based Therapy Manager at the Kentucky Spinal Cord Injury Research Center, who logged the most trips (78 trips by carpool and walking, totaling 1953 miles!) and to our Grand Prize $250 raffle winner: Luke Taylor‘27, a McConnell Scholar from Owensboro studying biology and political science, who enjoyed perfect fall weather for walking!
Here are the final standings (View Leaderboard):
| Rank | Name | Trips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kristin Benton | 78 |
| 2 | Justin Mog | 72 |
| 3 | Rachel Singel | 68 |
| 4 | Jessi Stivers | 62 |
| 5 | William Cull | 56 |
| 6 | Emma Beck | 48 |
| 7 | Clinton Coulter | 48 |
| 8 | Steffany Gayton | 44 |
| 9 | Chad White | 42 |
| 10 | Sean Willis | 40 |
| 11 | David Henry | 32 |
| 12 | Evan Sandefur | 29 |
| 13 | Destiny Smith | 23 |
| 14 | Cecilia Durbin | 22 |
| 15 | Clayton Steffan | 21 |
| 16 | Maria Tinnell | 12 |
| 17 | Michael Portal | 10 |
| 18 | Jaimie Weiss | 8 |
| 19 | Jahnavi Doddapaneni | 7 |
| 20 | Darla Samuelsen | 6 |
| 21 | Vy Pham | 6 |
| 22 | Eliana Lopez-Baron | 5 |
| 23 | Killian Bowen | 4 |
| 24 | Anna Panenko | 4 |
| 25 | Vivek Nirmal | 4 |
| 26 | Ashley Logsdon | 4 |
| 27 | Kristen Brown | 4 |
| 28 | Caleb Gentry | 4 |
| 29 | Levi Maynard | 3 |
| 30 | Roxy Osborne | 3 |
| 31 | John Hutcheson | 2 |
| 32 | Luke Taylor | 2 |
| 33 | Rose Mattingly | 1 |
| 34 | Ofelia Mattingly | 1 |
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
- 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.
