Area residents are big winners: Greenhouse gas impact reduced by 76 tons
INDIANAPOLIS (Nov. 13, 2012) – For choosing not to drive to work alone, Kristi Carlson, who lives in Bloomington and carpools with three other downtown workers to and from her job at IUPUI, will have $500 for holiday shopping, thanks to the inaugural Commuter Connect Commuter Challenge. But area residents might be the big winners: Thanks to Commuter Challenge participants, the amount of greenhouse gases and carbon monoxide released into the air was reduced by millions of tons during the month of October.
Carlson is one of the more than 400 Central Indiana residents from 185 companies who logged their commutes at www.CommuterConnect.com anytime they didn’t drive alone in October, Rideshare Month. In addition to Carlson, who won the grand prize, other commuters who won prizes through weekly drawings received IndyGo passes, Indy Express Bus passes, an iPod and gift cards to Bicycle Garage Indy and other local retailers.
Companies/worksites with the most employees participating in the Challenge were: Angie’s List, AT&T, Cummins, Delphi, Eli Lilly, ExactTarget, Faegre Baker Daniels, Frost Brown Todd, State of Indiana, IU Health, IUPUI, JP Morgan Chase, OneAmerica, Rolls-Royce, U.S. Defense Finance & Accounting Service, and URS Corp.
“We were thrilled with the participation and plan to do more contests in the future because it gets folks talking about ridesharing and getting to work by carpooling, ride the bus, biking or vanpooling,” said Andrew McGee, manager of Commuter Connect.
The pollution reduction for just this group of people over one month was more than 76 tons of greenhouse gases (gases that trap heat in the atmosphere) and 4.5 tons of carbon monoxide.
The winners, including their hometowns and employers are listed below.
Carpoolers
Jenny Bauer, Bloomington, State of Indiana
Kristi Carlson, Bloomington, IUPUI (grand prize winner)
Brenda DeFord, Camby, Indiana Family & Social Services Administration
Diana Roth, Camby, U.S. Defense & Accounting Service
Michelle Harden-Price, Brazil, State of Indiana
Eric Moody, Greenwood, OneAmerica
Vanpoolers
Derek Johnson, Bloomington, U.S. National Labor Relations Board
Dennis Palmer, Noblesville, Delphi
Karen Surface, Martinsville, U.S. Veterans Affairs Medical Center
IndyGo riders
Sam Cohen, Indianapolis, WellPoint
Robert Coleman, Carmel, Milliman
Matthew Dunahee, Indianapolis, Synthesis architects
Madonna Patton-Rhodes, Indianapolis, The Columbia Club
Clint Setser, Indianapolis, Ivy Tech
Indy Express Bus riders
John Kile, Cicero, Eli Lilly and Company
Carl Klutzke, Carmel, Simon Property Group
Jill Russell, Carmel, State of Indiana
Dierdre Westrate, Indianapolis, State of Indiana
Bicycle commuters
Jessica Chodor, Indianapolis, Angie’s List
Bradley Kottkamp, Indianapolis, Fairfield Inn & Suites-Downtown
Elyse McCulla, Indianapolis, Angie’s List
Phil Perry, Indianapolis, State of Indiana
Emily Young, Indianapolis, ExactTarget
Commuter Connect is a service of Central Indiana Regional Transportation Authority (CIRTA). It is part of a federally funded program designed to reduce air pollution and traffic congestion. There is no charge for employers or employees to use Commuter Connect’s services. To learn more, visit CommuterConnect.us.
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MEDIA CONTACT: Jen Schmits Thomas, 317.441.2487, jen@jtprinc.com
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