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NOVEMBER 2010

Events calendar

Send us your events!
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November 15 & 18
Draft Parks & Rec System Plan: Open House

November 16
Backyard Talks: Winter Biking

November 16 & 17
Free Rides on Northstar

November 17
Nice Ride Expansion to St. Paul - Public Workshop

November 22
Jefferson/Cleveland Median Community Meeting

December 2
Backyard Talks: Sustainable Winter Sidewalk Management for Business Owners

More events...



Celebrating Highland


November 13
Join us in celebrating the individual success stories from our program this year in Highland Park.
RSVP & event details


 
Quick links

New! Check your Go-To card balance online. more...

St. Paul is #4 nationally in Green Cities recognition. more...

Meet John Levin, the wizard behind the curtain at Metro Transit. more...

New charge-card parking meters for downtown St. Paul. more...

What Oberstar's loss means to transportation locally. more...

Five things you might not know about Minnesota bicycle rules. more...

Light Rail dig reveals archeological treasure... maybe. more...

A women's guide to cool-weather biking. more...

 
No ridiculous
car trips




From Sweden, an innovative campaign for promoting bicycling. Watch...

 
What we're following

The Final Link Connecting Minneapolis and St. Paul - Bike Walk Twin Cities

Twin Cities win award aiming to turn transit into treasure - Star Tribune

St. Paul takes up sidewalk rules - Star Tribune

Bicycling and Walking Report Card - Bike Walk Twin Cities

District 10 residents want permit parking, reject Hamline-Arlington parking lot - Park Bugle

The Challenge of Multimodalism (pdf) - ITE Journal

Free WiFi Tested on Plymouth Buses - Fox9



St. Paul Smart Trips logo
We're a non-profit that improves access and mobility for those who travel in and around St. Paul.

www.smart-trips.org


"Give to the Max"
on Tuesday, November 16 and your donation will be DOUBLED!



2010 Commuter Choice winners announced!


An innovative
rideshare commuter station from 2010 winner MPCA

Congratulations to this year's Commuter Choice Award winners! The Commuter Choice Awards is a yearly program where we, along with our regional partners, recognize organizations, employers and individuals for their creative solutions to promoting alternatives to driving alone.

On Wednesday, November 10, seven organizations and four individuals were recognized with awards, including the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) in St. Paul. MPCA was recognized for their innovative solution for promoting carpooling and reducing their carbon footprint by creating a fleet vehicle reservation system that not only moved the most fuel efficient vehicles to the top of the selection list, but also encouraged employees to share a ride to their meetings. To help facilitate this, MPCA instituted a policy of designating Wednesdays as meeting days in their St. Paul headquarters, making it easier for regional staff to arrange a carpool for the day.

Learn more: See a list of nominees and winners for 2010



Fall Bike Walk Week goes to school


Highland Park Elementary Principal, Teresa M. Vibar on Walk to School Day

On Wednesday, October 6th, over 30 Twin Cities schools participated in International Walk (and Bike) to School Day. The day marked the middle of the regional Fall Bike Walk Week. The week-long promotion  aimed to encourage people who are already biking, walking and using public transportation to continue doing so throughout the shorter days and colder weather.

The schools hosted celebrations with coffee, pastries, raffle prizes and music for both students and parents who walked or biked to school that day. Some schools had bike and walk safety lessons throughout the day. Other schools organized "walking school buses," in which a group of children walk together to school with adult guidance.

St. Paul schools took an active part this year in International Walk to School day. At Highland Park Elementary, staff members Dave Bollum and Judy Ryder had 440 students and 50 staff participate in an all-school walk. Meanwhile over at EXPO, Bev Stoffels led 660 students and 25 staff on walks with pedometers to track their distance. At Horace Mann School, Mark Castillo and Danica Linssen led over 300 students on a walk around the building before school.

Smart Trips contributed bright yellow commemorative "Exercise Your Right to Bike and Walk More!" shirts that were raffled off to student participants.

View: Photos from Highland Park Elementary



Ride to Rewards loyalty program rolls out



Earlier this month, a brand new, first-of-its-kind loyalty program launched for customers of Metro Transit and participating suburban transit providers called Ride to Rewards. The free program rewards your use of Metro Transit and other providers that use the regional Go-To Card system..

Every time you ride, you earn reward points. To help you earn points faster, a network of local businesses has been enlisted to reward your spending with Ride to Rewards points.
There is no cost to enroll in the program and anyone who uses a Go-To, Go-To college, U-Pass or Metropass card is eligible.

In St. Paul, here are a few of the participating businesses: Cedar Business Printing, D. Brian's Deli & Catering, Q Kindness Caf�, and Sawatdee.

Enroll today: Sign up for Ride to Rewards

Don't have a Go-To Card?  Order one online



Bridges workgroup spans community input gap



The Complete Bridges Committee of St. Paul Smart Trips was created to help St. Paul residents proactively develop community vision for bridges that safely accommodate users of all ages and abilities including pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists and those choosing public transportation.


To assess community needs, the committee created an attitudinal survey that asked participants to rate the usability and design of bridges that cross Interstate 94 in St. Paul. A trial run of the survey was field tested in partnership with the district councils of Union Park and Hamline Midway in the summer of 2010 and received more than 60 responses. Interest spanned 10 bridges in St. Paul designed for both motorized and non-motorized users.

The results of the survey will appear in a Complete Bridges Toolkit being developed by the committee. The toolkit will walk organizers through the creation of a community vision using the survey as a tool for collecting community input. The community visioning process is aimed at providing assistance to Saint Paul Public Works with the community involvement process.

Get involved: Take our Complete Bridges survey!

Read more: Learn about complete bridges elsewhere



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