“Don’t Sit in Traffic – Join the Movement!” is the theme of this year’s Car Free Week, presented by the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) and Active Transportation Alliance (Active Trans), from Sept. 22-28.
The region’s 2013 Car Free Week includes the chance for transit users to win prizes based on the number of trips they take. “Car free” commuters should register online by Sept. 28 to begin tracking their trips. “Car free” can include using public transportation, biking or walking. More than 7,000 Chicagoland commuters are already registered on the site.
“Car Free Week is promoting more than just using the region’s transit system instead of driving for a few days,” said Joe Costello, executive director of RTA. “Car Free Week is promoting the positive benefits of living near and using our transit system, which include fighting obesity with daily exercise; making a community’s air cleaner, saving money and reducing isolation, especially for the senior population and people with disabilities.”
CTA, Metra and Pace provide approximately two million rides on an average weekday. Data shows that approximately 71 percent of Chicago households use transit regularly and 38 percent of regional households use transit regularly.
Entering the RTA’s Car Free Week contest is easy.
1. Visit the Drive Less Live More website and click the “Car Free Week” image to register as a user. Once a profile is confirmed, the user is ready to start tracking trips.
2. Click on the “My Trip Tracker” to start entering trips with the interactive calendar. Any kind of trip can be tracked – transit, bike, ridesharing, walking, even telecommutes.
3. When points are accumulated, check the “My Rewards” page to see which Car Free Week prizes can be won; the user will automatically be entered into the prize drawings based on the number of trips taken. Participants can measure mileage, greenhouse gases prevented, and calories burned.
Car Free Week contest prizes include:
• A Civia Loring Bicycle from Roscoe Village Bikes
• A Chicago “Staycation” package featuring museum passes, a hotel room, dining gift card, transit and Divvy BikeShare passes
• Divvy annual memberships, as well as daily passes
• Zipcar car sharing memberships and driving credit
• Registrations to 2014 MB Financial Bank Bike the Drive and Four-Star Bike & Chow
World Car Free Day is supported by the World Car free Network, the hub of the global car free movement, which promotes alternatives to car dependence and automobile-based planning, and works to improve quality of life for all.
