Those who took part in the Bike Commuting Challenge (part of Bike Charlotte!, May 4-13) saved a total of $536 in gasoline (or $2,600 in total car costs). Other fun facts below.
Thanks to John Cock (The Lawrence Group) for forwarding results of the Commuter Challenge from Bill Clark of the Bicycle Commuter Mentor Program.
Altogether, we had 77 cyclists, 26 new cyclists, 22 female cyclists, and around 250 commutes made at an average of 7.5 miles each way! For that week, some quick math shows that we:
–did not drive 3,750 miles during that week;
–saved $536 in gas between all of us (or $2,600 in total car costs);
–kept 3,500 – 4,300 pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere (about the weight of a car); and maybe got a little bit of exercise!
Some highlights of this year’s results include:
–Top workplace participation for a small workplace: TKM’s Best (TKM Associates) with 100% participation!
–Top workplace participation for a large workplace: The Midnight Ramblers (The Charlotte Observer) with 2% participation. Yes, only 2% – but there are a lot of folks at these large businesses to convince to bike, and 2% is a great percentage.
—Top non-businesses group participation: The Greenway Go-Getters (The Greenway Advisory Council) with 100% participation and The Bicycle Advisory Council with 87% participation!
–Most riders in a small workplace: Charlotte Department of Transportation with 6 riders!
–Most riders in a large workplace: Bank of America’s Gateway Village Team with 11 bikers!
—Most riders in a non-workplace: Wesley Heights Neighborhood with 4 riders!
—Most number of new riders in a small workplace: Full Blast Face Meltery (REI Pineville) with 3 new cyclists!
—Most number of new riders in a large workplace: Charlotte Observer with 4 and Duke Energy with 3 new riders!
—Most number of new riders in a non-workplace: The Portaro Family with 2 new riders!
—Most number of female cyclists in a small workplace: The Park and Wreckers (Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation Planning Department) with 2 female cyclists, one being seven months pregnant and biking every day! (Way to go, honey!)
—REI also had 2 female riders!
— Most number of female cyclists in a large workplace: Piedmont Natural Gas and Gateway Village with 3 female riders!
—Most number of female cyclists in a non-workplace: Team Diva of the Dirt Divas Mountain Bike Club with 3 female cyclists and Wesley Heights Neighborhood with 3 female cyclists as well!
The teams which are the envy of all bicycle commuters and whose members live the closest to work include LG Love (The Lawrence Group – 1.5 mile average distance), REI (2 mile average distance), and The Drafters (The Housing Studio with and average driving distance of 3 miles).
The team that is way more dedicated than the average human being is the Charlotte Bicycle Advisory Council with an average commuting distance one-way of 19 miles!
A special recognition to the US Bankruptcy Court for getting the judge on a bike?!
Final recognition to a Bank of America team called Pigs CAN Fly for having the best team name, to the Heartwood Tree Service guys for always being there and showing a great performance, to Duke Generators and The Portaro Family for showing the media how it’s done, to Smokin’ in Spandex for their enthusiasm and to the captains of BikURS, eC Riders and Crown Club Cruisers for dealing with the most number of excuses!
If you’re a cyclist and wondering about how to bicycle in Charlotte, visit the Charlotte Department of Transportation’s Bicycle Program web site. Or try B.I.K.E.S., a local bicycling advocacy group.