Time to clear the cobwebs off your bike, lace up your walking shoes, find a buddy to ride with or check the bus schedule: The Business Commute Challenge is coming.
The annual event, which takes place May 14-20, is one of a plethora of events taking place in May, designated as Bike Month in Eugene. Join in a bike path cleanup, enter the competition for a golden bicycle and check out the UO’s new visual bike counter while helping reduce carbon emissions and traffic throughout the month.
The Business Commute Challenge is a communitywide event, sponsored by the Lane Transit District, that encourages workers who commute alone in their cars to find an alternative way to get to work, whether by walking, taking the bus, cycling or carpooling.
Work units engage in a friendly competition with peers to see who can log the most trips. At stake is bragging rights, and this year, prizes, including the golden bike offered by the UO Department of Parking and Transportation.
“Not only can you get healthier and save the environment, but you can win stuff, too,” said Josh Kashinsky, alternative transportation coordinator for the department.
At the UO, staff and faculty members can find their team or create one by going to the Commute Challenge website and clicking the “sign-up here” button. After selecting the UO as their parent organization, participants can look for their work unit or create a new team. Students are not allowed to participate, except for graduate teaching fellows.
So far, about 35 teams from the UO have signed up for the challenge, he said. About two-thirds of UO faculty and staff members already carpool, bus, bike or walk to work, Kashinsky said.
Last year, 2,584 local employees formed 240 Commute Challenge teams. In one week, participants reduced single-person car travel by more than 90,000 miles and reduced 96,000 pounds of carbon dioxide.
In addition to the commute challenge, a number of organized rides, skills training, clinics and other bike-related events are on offer in the community this month.
For instance, Tuesday, May 17, is “Breakfast at the Bridges,” where bicycle commuters can stop and refuel on their way to work with free bagels and coffee on the DeFazio Bike Bridge.
The UO Bike Program also is staging its third annual BicyClean River Path Clean-up on Saturday, May 14, Mountain Biking 101 on Thursday, May 19, and a Mountain Bike Trail Build Day on Saturday, May 21.
The BicyClean event starts at 9 a.m. this Saturday at the UO Outdoor Program Barn at the corner of East 18th Avenue and University Street. Between 60 and 100 students and community members will work together to clear trash and recyclable materials from the paths by bicycle.
“When we created this event, we had envisioned it as one that would continue for years to come,” said Laughton Elliott-DeAngelis, UO Outdoor Program events coordinator. “We have always planned for infrastructure to support over 100 participants, and we hope that this is the year we meet that number. Community members are welcome.”
Also, the UO will unveil its new visual bike counter recently installed at the university entrance at East 13th Avenue and Kincaid Street. The counter displays the daily and yearly bicycle use.
The visual bicycle counter is the first of its kind on a college campus in Oregon and one of the first for a college campus in the country. The counter is sponsored by UO student group LiveMove.
A calendar of the more than 25 events is available on the Bike Month website and Facebook page.
—By Tim Christie, University Communications