Inaugural Cards Commuter Challenge saves $1,999 and 4,772 lbs. of carbon pollution
UofL held it's inaugural Cards Commuter Challenge from August 26th through September 30th to encourage students, faculty, and staff 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 were asked to log their daily trips and each week the front runners were rewarded with $50 gift cards. A $250 Grand Prize was offered for the person who takes the most trips by means other than driving alone!
The Results Are In!
During the five week Challenge, 39 students, faculty, and staff logged:
- 1,422 alternative commute trips,
- Reducing 6,889 miles of car travel,
- Saving $1,999 in gas, parking, and car maintenance, and
- Preventing 4,772 pounds of carbon pollution!
Our overall student winner, Rusty Crofts, saved $199, burned 28,840 calories, and kept 392 lbs CO2 out of the air through 150 bus & walking trips of 596 miles in total!
Our overall employee winner, Dental Clinic Associate, Lynette Mercado-McQuiston logged a total of 52 vanpool trips from Elizabethtown, racking up 2,350 miles of driving avoided!
We also honor our other Weekly Winners:
- Mercedes Pastor, a junior field hockey player from Buenos Aires, logged an amazing 47 bike commute trips in week 1!
- Public Health Graduate Research Assistant, Madeline Tomlinson, logged 58 bike short trips to win $50 in week 2!
- Physical Plant cabinetmaker, Charles Ames, logged 59 miles over 26 bike commute trips, preventing 46.7lbs of pollution in week 3!
- Archivist Kyna Herzinger logged 9 bus commutes and one carpool to win week 4!
- Urban Planning Masters student & Program Coordinator at TreesLouisville, Rob Monsma, logged 10 transit trips (40mi) & 4 bike trips (12mi) in week 4, with 92 trips total logged in the Challenge!
Here's how the Challenged worked:
Step 1: Join the Challenge online!
- Students: Register free on to the Cardinal Directions trip-finding and carpool-matching platform
- Faculty & Staff: Register free on the Every Commute Counts platform.
Step 2: Challenge yourself (and your friends!) to get to campus differently!
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 or Every Commute Counts.
-
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 or join LouVelo citywide bikeshare for half-price with your @louisville.edu address ($7.50/month gets you unlimited trips of up to one hour without any additional charges).
- VANPOOL: Employees can get in on a vanpool, get your ride home guaranteed, or enter to win additional monthly prizes with Every Commute Counts.
* NOTE: Though fun and certainly better than driving, getting around via lazy, coal-powered electric scooters does not qualify for this Challenge. Skip the dirty electricity and use your muscles to qualify!
Explore all of UofL's Sustainable Transportation Options.
Step 3: Log your trips to win!
The only way to be in the running for prizes is to log all of your commute trips online with Cardinal Directions or Every Commute Counts.
Connect with us, trash-talk, and post about your commute on Facebook
