April 2015
 
 
In this Issue
Carpool Week 2015
Pan Am Roadshow
Qualcomm Mix n' Mingle
Commuter Attitude Survey
Sheraton Parkway Carpoolers
Out & About
PAN AM Preparedness
News & Interesting Reads
Laughs for the Road
Did you know?
Connect with us!

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Get your Carpool Team ready for Carpool Week - April 20-26!

 

Carpool Week is an annual campaign that helps encourage people like YOU to try carpooling when travelling work, school or even an event. 

 

 

Visit the Smart Commute tool from Monday, April 13 to Sunday, April 26, 2015 

and log your carpool trips at least once during the Carpool Week campaign for 

a chance to win!  

Grand Prize:
1 of 3 $500 VIA Rail Vouchers
 
Local Markham, Richmond Hill prize:
A pair of Pan Am Table Tennis Tickets at the Atos Centre!
  

Step 1

Register a new account or log in to your existing account on the Smart Commute tool. You can join networks from the drop-down menu, (e.g., your workplace, school, or GO station) to help you find people travelling to the same destination.


Using postal codes, set your origin (A) and destination (B). The tool will display 
other users who have a similar trip. Save this trip as a "favourite" so that others can ride-match with you. You can modify and add multiple trips to increase your chance of finding a carpool partner.

 

Step 2

You must log at least one carpool trip on the tool during the Contest Period (April 13 to 26, 2015) to be eligible for the prize draw.

  

March Pan Am Roadshow Contest

Throughout the month of March the Smart Commute team ran a Pan Am Roadshow contest encouraging commuters to check out their travel options and log their sustainable trips. The winner of our March contest is David Zhu from AMD. David Zhu is a model Smart Commuter and has been logging his bike trips on our tool since February! As the winner of our contest David will receive 2 tickets to a Women's Pan Am Waterpolo match! 

Here are a few awesome stats about David we've gathered from our tool...

- David has logged 150 sustainable trips, most of which have been bike trips

- He has over 1300 sustainable km's logged on our tool

- David has burned over 14,000 calories and reduced 223 kg of CO2

- Besides all of these awesome benefits, David has saved over $190 

... all since registering on the tool on February 4th

Congrats David!

 

Qualcomm Mix n' Mingle

 

   

Qualcomm held a Mix n' Mingle for employees to learn about the transportation options that are available to them through experts on that mode. York Region Transit 

was in attendance to help employees learn about transit and the PRESTO integrated fare system. Qualcomm's walking club leader Tobey Zhang gave a presentation on the benefits of walking and how employees can join the walking club and sign out the Nordic Walking Poles. Lastly, a Qualcomm carpool group gave a presentation about the benefits of carpooling and how they work out who drives, splitting costs and deciding on what music to listen to. What a fantastic event!


 

Commuter Attitude Survey

 

In September 2014, Metrolinx surveyed 1,000 commuters in the Greater Toronto Hamilton Area (GTHA) to understand their travel choices and attitudes toward transportation and commuting. Participants must have travelled or teleworked at least 3 times a week for work, school or volunteering in the last 12 months. The Commuter Attitudes Survey was conducted to gauge GTHA commuters' attitudes about transportation and commuting, understand their travel choices and the reasons behind these choices, and provide insights on factors that will encourage commuters to adopt "smarter" choices. 

 

See the infographics below for a snapshot of the results. 

  

Want to see the full report and infographic? Check it out

 


Sheraton Parkway Carpoolers

Check out this great video from a couple of Sheraton Parkway carpoolers. Do you have a great carpooling story? We want to hear about it!

During the month of April, email us  your carpool story along with a picture of you and your carpool team for a chance to win lunch for the group courtesy of Smart Commute!

The Carpoolers | Les covoitureurs


 

Out & About

 

RHCOC Business Awards

Our friends at Evolution Cycles clean up nice! Shop owner, Mike Horlick (right), took home the "Young Entrepeneur" award at the Richmond Hill Chamber of Commerce Business Awards. Way to go boys!

 

MBT Women's Luncheon

The Markham Board of Trade hosted a women's luncheon for International Women's Day. Key note speaker, Ene Underwood, was quoted saying "My bike to work is the best time of my day. It is this wonderful moment when the world is still and it's just you". We agree!


AMD

Flo and AMD Green Team member, Phil, posed for a picture by the AMD charging stations during a tour of
the AMD facilities.

 

Seneca - Markham Campus



Seneca Markham Campus staff and students completed a follow-up survey to tell Smart Commute how they are travelling to and from campus and how we can help better their commutes!
   

Let's get Pan Am prepared!

 April 9, 2015 Business Information Session at the Atos Centre

How will your business keep moving during the Games?

The TORONTO 2015 Pan Am/Parapan Am Games Organizing Committee (TO2015) and its partners are holding a business information workshop on April 9th from 

9 a.m.-12 p.m. at the Atos Pan Am/Parapan Am Centre. This session will include general Games information, transportation, and venue related information as well as tips, tools, and strategies to help you and your employees get around during the Games.

Who will be attending?

Meet with staff from the Ministry of Transportation, TO2015, and Smart Commute to learn about ways to keep your business moving this summer. Visit the Smart Commute breakout table to discuss custom strategies to get your employees and their commutes prepared for the Games.

To RSVP, please email [email protected] with: 

  • Names of attendee(s)
  • Name of your business
  • The session you will attend (Markham)

Sign-up to receive email updates about traffic plans and impacts, planning resources and other tools that can help keep your business moving

 


News & Interesting Reads  
  • Why Steve Jobs took long walks and why you should too Read
  • Once you've decided to carpool and have contacted your match, we suggest having a quick chat about how to run your carpool. Check out these tips!
  • The top 10 places to take a walk in Toronto Read
  • What strides did York Region take in 2014 to improve cycling and walking infrastructure? Check out the Annual Report for York Region's Cycling Pedestrian Master Plan to find out how the Region supports active transportation
  • 6 Bicycle Movies on Netflix right now Read
  • Ten cities will get dedicated spaces for children to safely practice their cycling skills, after a trial scheme proved popular Read
  • How they are including bikes in the re-development of the Honest Ed's property Read
  • How exercising keeps us young Read
  • 10 places writers go in Toronto to get inspired Read
As if the Arkells aren't cool enough, they biked to the Juno's!! Then they won Group of the Year and Rock Album of the Year.

Some people may be flying to work in the not-too-distant future
New Zealand firm Martin Aircraft Company is building a one-person jetpack scheduled to go on sale in 2016. And it actually seems to work! Read more

Laughs for the Road!

 

Lighten your traffic conversation by checking out the

Smart Commute MRH weekly commuter comics.  

   Make sure to check our Facebook page each 

Thursday for a new Commuter Comic! 

 

Did you know?

 

 

There are 10 GO stations that have electric vehicle charging stations installed? 

 

GO Transit is piloting designated electric vehicle (EV) parking and charging capacity at 10 GO Transit stations in two phases. Two parking spaces with EV charging capacity are available at the following GO stations:

  • Ajax GO
  • Aurora GO
  • Burlington GO
  • Centennial GO
  • Clarkson GO
  • Erindale GO
  • Lincolnville GO
  • Oakville GO
  • Pickering GO
  • Whitby GO
For quick and easy access to the EV charging network in the GTHA, register online for a Chargepoint membership.

Metrolinx supports the Government of Ontario's vision for electric vehicles in the province, to support the creation of jobs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The government's vision is for one of every 20 vehicles on our roads to be an electric vehicle by 2020. Read more

 

What is Smart Commute Markham, Richmond Hill?

 

Smart Commute is a sustainable transportation program of the municipalities of Markham and Richmond Hill, York Region and Metrolinx. We help local employers and commuters, like you, explore different commute choices like carpooling, cycling and transit. 

 

Our goal is to ease gridlock, improve air quality and reduce greenhouse gas emissions while making your commute less expensive and more enjoyable.