Smart Commute
2008 Activities:

Ann Arbor
CURB YOUR CAR MONTH
MAY 1ST – 31ST
In May we are challenging you to “curb your car” and drive less. Interested in promoting or learning more about Sustainable Transportation options in Ann Arbor? Curb Your Car Month offers over 20 events focused on biking, walking, transit & carpooling - including a month-long Commuter Challenge. These events are sure to inspire you to drive less throughout the entire year.

getDowntown Program - Nancy Shore
(734) 214-0100
nancy@annarborchamber.org
www.getdowntown.org

Detroit
2ND ANNUAL DETROIT BIKES! TO WORK DAY 2008
MAY 18 6:30 AM - 8:30 AM
On select Fridays in May, Detroit Bikes! and Detroit Synergy will organize bike to work meet-up stations and plan group routes from Dearborn, Grosse Pointe, and Royal Oak. Also on the morning of National Bike to Work Day, (Friday , May 16th) Detroiters will once again ride on the first concrete mile in the United States, M -1 Woodward Avenue, in an event voted by the Metro Times as “the best reason to ditch your car” in 2006.

Detroit Bikes! - Alexander Froehlich
detroitbikes@detroitsynergy.org
www.detroitsynergy.org

Flint
SMART COMMUTE 2008
May 11-18, 2008
This May, “think outside the glove box.” Instead of driving a car, try people powered transportation: bicycling, walking, carpooling, or public transit. The Safe and Active Flint (SAF) Coalition is celebrating National Bike-to-Work Day with a full week of Smart Commute events, including an information fair, fun rides, and the Commuter Challenge on May 16th.

Safe and Active Flint (SAF) Coalition Crim Fitness Foundation
Polly Sheppard
psheppard@flint.org www.crim.org/safeactiveflint.asp

Jackson
JACKSON SMART COMMUTE DAY 2008
MAY 16, 2008
Smart commuting is a great way to increase physical activity, save money, and help the environment. Join us on May 16th in getting to work the healthy way by walking, biking, or riding the bus instead of driving. Businesses compete to win the “Corporate Challenge” too!

Fitness Council of Jackson
Scott TenBrink
(517) 990-9798 scott@fitnesscouncil.org
www.fitnesscouncil.org

Lansing
SMART COMMUTE ‘08
APRIL - JUNE 2008
Smart Commute ’08 helps people in the Capital Area discover the joys of walking, bicycling, riding the bus, carpooling, and telecommuting instead of driving. Smart Commute ’08 will include bicycle commuting classes, festivals, a company competition, monthly prize drawings for members of the Smart Commute Club, and more.

Mid-Michigan Environmental Action Council - Jessica Yorko
(517) 214-5684
yorko446@cs.com
www.midmeac.org

Traverse City
SMART COMMUTE WEEK
JUNE 2 - 6, 2008
Smart Commute Week is a program that encourages ‘smart’ transportation that includes: walking, biking, carpooling, using public transportation, or any other form of transportation that does not include driving alone. The event showcases, promotes and encourages alternative transportation options in Traverse City. Events include free commuter breakfasts, the commuter cup challange and a group ride in downtown Traverse City.

TART Trails, Inc. - Missy Luyk
missy@traversetrails.org
www.traversetrails.org

Bike Month: May
Bike-to-Work Week: May 12-16
Bike-to-Work Day: May 16

Americans have been commemorating
National Bike Month in May for 51 years, thanks to advocacy groups like the League of American Bicyclists and the League of Michigan Bicyclists (LMB). Timed to coincide with the arrival of warmer weather, the event has inspired countless bike rides, safety inspections, commuter challenges, ribbon-cuttings, “share the road” promotions, and other varied celebrations of bicycling in communities across the nation.

The LMB is promoting Bike-to-Work Week from May 12-16. One of the most popular activities in Bike Month is encouraging people to bicycle to work and forsake their motor vehicles for just one day. Friday, May 16 is designated as National Bike-to-Work Day (this date is also part of National Transportation Week), although many communities pick other dates in the month for this particular event.

Hundreds of people in Lansing, Traverse City, Ann Arbor, Jackson and Detroit will bike, walk, carpool, take the bus to work, or telecommute during Smart Commute ‘08. Smart Commute is part of a national celebration of Bike-to-Work Week.

Smart Commuting Tips:
www.LMB.org/commute.htm




 




The link between smart
commuting and quality of life:

Time: “Dave Duffield of the League of Michigan Bicyclists bikes a 17-mile round trip to his job. When he gets home, he can complete his wife’s ‘honey-do’ list without hankering for a cycling trip to rev up his heart rate.” (The Detroit News. Tuesday, September 21, 2004, “Cycling becomes Metro quality of life issue”)

Money: Half of America’s trips are under three miles — and we make an average of 10 to 12 trips per household per day. With rising gas prices, replacing single-occupant car trips with Smart Commute trips means money in the pocket!

Health: According to a 2004 Ingham County Health Department report, about 62% of Ingham County adults do not engage in moderate physical activity at least 3 times a week. About 58% of Ingham residents are overweight, and 20% are obese. Replacing car trips with Smart
Commute trips also means inches off your waistline and years on your life!

Economy and Environment: “The economic benefits of trail systems neighboring a community have been studied by the National Park Service [and] the Urban Land Institute. Both studies indicate that trails increase tourism and trail-related businesses to the area and reduce the number of single-occupant vehicle trips, improving air quality.”

Creating “Cool”: According to Robert Ficano, a Wayne County executive and advocate for an I-275 bike path, “Cycling is a quality-of-life issue. Young professionals want bike lanes, bike paths in cities where they seek work."

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