2011 Pueblo Commuter Challenge

How we keep score:

HIGHEST PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL COMMUTES FOR A WORKPLACE

Participants report how many days they worked during the challenge month and how many of those days they biked or walked to work.

We assume that all non-participating employees at that workplace work the same average number of days as participating employees.

We multiply the total number of employees at that workplace by the assumed average number of workdays per employee in the month to get the total number of commutes at that workplace for the challenge month. We then divide the number of bike commutes logged by that workplace by the total commutes at that workplace to get the percent of commutes taken by bike.

Only bike/walk commutes taken by employees that are registered and logged are counted.

A deviation between the average work schedule of participants and that of their non-participating coworkers cannot be counteracted (this is a good reason to get a variety of employees to participate).

E = Total number employees at the workplace

D = Average number of days participants at that workplace worked during challenge month

B = Total bike/walk commutes logged by challenge participants at that workplace

P = Percent of commutes taken by bike/foot

P = B/(D x E) x 100

The highest Pueblo commuter team rates in 2010 were:

1st place: USGS took home the Commuter Cup trophy with with a whopping 23.5% rate of commuting to work during the month for the entire business. This team included 10 of the 25 employees making the effort to try alternate transportation.
2nd place: Health Department had an overall 4.3% commute rate with 17 of 90 employees commuting.
3rd place: a near tie of 1.48% and 1.42% for the City of Pueblo with 14 team members out of 350 employees and Board of Waterworks with 5 team members out of 142 employees.
4th place: Parkview had the largest team of 23 out of 1800 employees but despite having the highest team member commute rate could only achieve a 0.98% commute rate for the business.

So we made a new division for larger companies to compete against one another as smaller companies have an advantage motivating a smaller number of people. But companies large and small show how Pueblo compares to the rest of the US and cities abroad.

For comparison, the average bike commute rate is 1.05% for 35 large US cities ranging from 0.22% to 2.63%. Denver, a silver rated Bicycle Friendly Community has a 0.5% commuter rate. While Copenhagen, Denmark has a 36% commuter rate!

City design, urban planning, mass transit options and defnitely the challenge of finding affordable parking all factor into moving populations to commute on foot or bike more. Pueblo has plenty of free parking which makes driving easy and convenient whereas many large cities it can be quicker to ride to work than sit in gridlock traffic and then hunt for a parking space.

The traveling Commuter Cup Trophy will be awarded to the business in each Division with the highest overall commuter rate for the business. Individuals with a commuter rate of 50% or better will be recognized also.

What counts as a "bike commute"?

In keeping with our goal of introducing more people to the joys of biking/walking, we have made it easy for people with longer or more difficult commutes to participate in the challenge. A "bike commute" includes:

Riding both ways to work by bicycle
Riding one way to work by bicycle (and the other way by any other mode)
Riding the long way to or from work to incorporate a workout or errand running into your commute.

If you are not biking all of the way to work, count only the mileage of the bicycling part of your commute when you enter your one-way commute distance.

Tracking mileage for each participant also helps those with longer commutes. Total commuter mileage results have been very valuable for community awareness and demonstrating the need for improved bicycle infrastructure in our community.

What counts as a work day?

Any day that you work and make some kind of commute should be counted as a workday on your calendar, even if you're commuting somewhere other than your usual work location. DO NOT count sick days, vacation days, or days that you telecommute as a scheduled work day. These days will not count against your commute rate or bring down your percentage.