Cards Commuter Challengers prevent 3,269 lbs. of carbon pollution over 5,629 miles, saving $2200, and burning 76,000 calories!
From August 26 - September 30, 2024, 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 included:
- Music Therapy Professor, Chris Millett, who carpooled to/from work, avoiding 84 miles of driving in week 1
- John Pyron, a Nursing program manager who rode TARC free to/from work three times and biked six times in week 2
- Bill Cull in IT Services, who rode TARC free to/from work 8 miles every day in week 3
- REACH Graduate Assistant, Lane Scott, who took advantage of great fall weather bicycling to/from campus in week 4
FINAL RESULTS:
We were thrilled with our collective accomplishments: Over the five weeks, participants logged 960 trips on foot, bike, bus, carpool, or telecommuting, mitigating 3,269 pounds of carbon pollution over 5,629 miles, saving $2200, and burning 76,000 calories!
Congratulations go out to John Pyron, a Nursing program manager, who logged the most trips (78 trips by bus, bicycle and walking, totaling 137 miles!) and to our Grand Prize $250 raffle winner: Library Assistant, Chloe Forsting, who was randomly selected from all the participants after logging 39 trips by bicycle, totaling 109 miles!
Here are the final standings (View Leaderboard):
| Rank | Name | Trips |
| 1 | John Pyron | 78 |
| 2 | Sophia Anner | 74 |
| 3 | Justin Mog | 72 |
| 4 | Rachel Singel | 61 |
| 5 | Jessi Stivers | 56 |
| 6 | delaney scott | 49 |
| 7 | Isabella Bastien | 48 |
| 8 | CHRISTINE ARMSTRONG | 46 |
| 9 | William Cull | 46 |
| 10 | David Henry | 46 |
| 11 | Clinton Coulter | 43 |
| 12 | Matthew Houlette | 42 |
| 13 | Chad White | 42 |
| 14 | Chloe Forsting | 39 |
| 15 | Emma Beck | 36 |
| 16 | Jessica Smith | 30 |
| 17 | Per Wessels | 20 |
| 18 | Emerald Starr | 16 |
| 19 | Jacek Jasinski | 14 |
| 20 | Jessica Gardner | 12 |
| 21 | Heaven Wolfe | 8 |
| 22 | Kavi Jakes | 8 |
| 23 | Sean Willis | 6 |
| 24 | Annette Robinson | 4 |
| 25 | Steffany Gayton | 4 |
| 26 | Aniyah Thorpe | 4 |
| 27 | Brian Barnes | 4 |
| 28 | LaRee Shontee | 4 |
| 29 | Colton Bachinski | 4 |
| 30 | Fatuma Abdi | 4 |
| 31 | Chris Millett | 3 |
| 32 | Jahnavi Doddapaneni | 3 |
| 33 | Kathryn Williams | 3 |
| 34 | Vivek Nirmal | 3 |
| 35 | Diane Neubauer | 2 |
| 36 | Olive Dreckman | 2 |
| 37 | Cecilia Durbin | 2 |
| 38 | Anna Dittman | 2 |
| 39 | Shameem Varikkodan | 2 |
| 40 | Manivannan Vangalur | 2 |
| 41 | Killian Bowen | 1 |
| 42 | Andrew Roberts | 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 with UofL ID (just swipe your card as you board - any time, anywhere).
- 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.
