2018 Commute Smart B2B Challenge a Success!

June 11 2018

During our recent Commute Smart B2B Challenge 1,030 employees from 54 Seacoast companies used a sustainable form of transportation to commute to work or school.  They carpooled, vanpooled, rode the bus or a moped, bicycled, walked, or telecommuted.  The goal of the challenge was to reduce the frequency of people driving alone to work – a major factor in greenhouse gas emissions, traffic congestion, and stress.

Challenge participants competed for awards and the honor of having the smartest, greenest workplace.  The winners in the “Most Sustainable Trips” category were the Jumpin’ Jay’s Fish Café, Heinemann Publishing, Portsmouth Middle School and Herbal Nail Salon.  Strafford Regional Planning won the “Most Social Media Buzz” award; Portsmouth Middle School won the “Most Improved Team” award; and Heinemann Publishing won the “Most Team Spirit” award.

For the “Bike Only” component of the Challenge, the winning teams were Exeter Cycles, Oak Point Associates, Portsmouth Dept. of Public Works, and Portsmouth Middle School.

The 1,030 participants logged over 9,000 sustainable trips during the Challenge which ran the month May.   The trips totaled 176,000 miles, which is equivalent to circling the globe seven times. Carbon dioxide emissions were reduced by 91 tons. Collectively the participants put $99,900 back into their pockets by not driving alone.

Andy Bailey, bike commuter and Team Captain for the Gundalow Company, observed as he was riding home from work, “I was on Shattuck Way (entrance to Little Bay Bridge) at prime commuter time and passed 170 (!!) cars stuck in traffic.”  Dr. Sarah Andrews, team captain for UNH said, “Reducing my carbon footprint is important, but the Challenge is more than that.  It creates community and encourages more people to commute sustainably.”

“We were thrilled to have such an enthusiastic response from Seacoast area commuters with a whopping 25% increase in participation from last year,” commented Anne Rugg, Manager of CommuteSMART Seacoast.  People do it for the fun, to reduce their carbon footprint and to save money”, she added.