Bike to Work Day Countdown:
Just Hours to Go

If you're interested in improving your health and helping the environment, you have the perfect opportunity to do both this week: MTC and the Bay Area Bicycle Coalition and their many partners have designated Thursday, May 12, as the Bay Area's Bike to Work Day. If you haven't already registered to ride, there's still time. Just go to YouCanBikeThere.com, and commit to pedal to work this Thursday or any other day this month, and you'll be eligible to win a bike or a bike tour package. Check out the interactive maps showing Energizer Stations across all nine counties; as in years past, they will be passing out refreshments and giveaways, including this year's edition of the imprinted bicycle messenger and tote bags. If free refreshments (including a pancake breakfast in Oakland for East Bay participants) aren't enough inspiration, tune in to a new video called "My Motivation."

To find Bike to Work events in your area, view the calendar.

Team Bike Challenge Under Way
Nearly 2,500 Bay Area residents have opted to take the Bike to Work concept several steps further. They have signed up for Team Bike Challenge, thereby committing to bicycling as much as possible for their transportation needs throughout the month of May. Here's how it works: Friends and coworkers form teams of two to five people. They commit to cycle to work, school, shopping, errands and social engagements as many days as possible during the month of May, earning daily points according to the number of miles they've traveled that day. They can record their rides via the YouCanBikeThere.com website or a free iPhone app. Contestants can also earn bonus points for competing in various virtual medal challenges, such as biking enough miles to burn a total pizza's worth of calories (the iPhone app calculates the calories burned, as does the Bike Commute Calculator on the campaign website.

So far, there are 618 teams across the nine counties. The top-scoring team regionwide will get a bike rack commemorating their win -- for placement in their county -- while members of each county's top-scoring team will win a storage "trunk" for carrying things on their bikes. Companies fielding several teams can join the Company Bike Challenge as well. You can track the teams' progress here.

Bicycle Commuters of the Year Announced
Just in time for Bike to Work Day, MTC, the Bay Area Bicycle Coalition and other sponsors of Bike to Work Day have announced winners of the 2011 Bike Commuter of the Year competition. Nine local residents, one in each Bay Area county, are being recognized for their dedication to riding their bike for everyday transportation. Spanning the age gamut from grade schoolers to senior citizen, these intrepid cyclists are a testament to the many benefits of bicycle commuting, from improving their health to cutting carbon emissions to bringing families together. View portraits of the winners.

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Plan Bay Area Outreach in Full Swing 

Public interest in Plan Bay Area has been so high that MTC and the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) have added a second workshop in Alameda County. We originally scheduled nine public workshops -- one in each county -- for this spring. However, so many people signed up for the May 19 event in Berkeley that a second workshop has been scheduled on May 24 at MTC's offices in Oakland to accommodate the high demand in Alameda County.

To date, nearly 750 people have attended or signed up to attend one of the 10 workshops, which employ several interactive tools and exercises to elicit residents' feelings about growth and development patterns and transportation investments in the era of climate concerns. Space is available at the following meetings:

Sonoma County

Wednesday, May 18, 2011, 5:30-8:30 p.m.

The Glaser Center, 547 Mendocino Avenue, Santa Rosa

Alameda County

Tuesday, May 24, 2011, 5:30-8:30 p.m.

Metropolitan Transportation Commission

Joseph P. Bort MetroCenter Auditorium

101 Eighth Street, Oakland

Be sure to RSVP if you're planning to attend one of these meetings.

Can't attend a meeting? Try our interactive online tool for logging your priorities and making the difficult tradeoffs about the region's future: YouChoose Bay Area. 

We're capturing the workshop experience in photos on our OneBayArea Facebook page (click on "Photos" on the left).

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Calling All Wannabe Filmmakers: 511 Wants You!

MTC's 511 team is inviting Bay Area travelers to produce short videos depicting how 511 helps them get around. For instance, you might decide to show us how the mobile Real-Time Transit Departures tool lets you know how much time you have for that crucial extra cup of coffee in the morning. Or, maybe how the 511 Traffic map helps you determine which route you want to take to work (or inspires you to take transit instead). Videos will be judged on the following criteria: best demonstration of how 511 helps you get around, creativity and content quality. The creators of the top three favorite videos will each win a new iPad 2. Videos should be no more than two minutes in length and must be received by 11:59:59 p.m. PT on May 30, 2011. For more details, go to the contest page.

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Truck Toll Hike Waiver Nears End

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Follow Us

Follow MTC and and our sister agency, the Bay Area Toll Authority, on Facebook and Twitter.  

See a list of all our social media streams here -- get on board, and tell your friends and colleagues.

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