5/2/12 – Citizens for Modern Transit Announces Plans for Great Race Event

ST. LOUIS, MO., May 2, 2012 … As part of its “Make Your Move on Metro in May” series of events, Citizens for Modern Transit (CMT), in partnership with Trailnet and WeCar by Enterprise, will work to spark some friendly competition between alternative transportation modes,  as it hosts the first-ever Great Race on May 17. Designed to play off the CBS television hit, The Amazing Race, the event will place TEAM TRANSIT, TEAM BIKE and TEAM CARSHARE in a head-to-head battle to see which transportation mode can travel from downtown St. Louis to Clayton the fastest.

The race will kick off from Post Office Plaza at 815 Locust St. in downtown St. Louis at 4:30 p.m. with a welcome from St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay who will give the official signal to start the race.  From there, the members of TEAM TRANSIT will board MetroLink at the 8th and Pine station; TEAM CARSHARE will run to pick up its WeCar parked at 10th and Washington, and TEAM BIKE will run to the Downtown Bike Station to pick up their bikes. Each of the teams will then travel via their respective modes to the finish line, which will be located at C.J. Muggs in downtown Clayton. At the finish line, St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley will be on hand to present an award to the winning team and deliver closing remarks.

Members of all three teams will consist of local media personalities and other influential St. Louisans. Confirmed TEAM TRANSIT members are Kevin The Intern from the Phillips & Company Morning Show on Y98-FM; reporter Heidi Glaus from KSDK NewsChannel 5; reporter Nate Birt from the Clayton-Richmond Heights Patch online news publication; Stephen Gregali, special assistant to St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay and Kim Cella, executive director of Citizens for Modern Transit. Members of TEAM BIKE will include anchor Kevin Steincross from KTVI FOX 2 News and Ann Mack, Executive Director of Trailnet; while TEAM CARSHARE will include KMOV traffic reporter Sande Stevenson; Don Corrigan, editor-in-chief of the Webster-Kirkwood Times, South County Times and West End Word newspapers; Tony Moise, Vice President and General Manager of the Saint Louis Operating Group for Enterprise Holdings and Steve Salemi, Airport Market Manager for Enterprise Holdings.

“Regardless of who wins, our goal with this event is to promote the education and expanded use of the St. Louis Metro area’s transit system, as well as other viable alternative modes, and we think people just might be surprised to see which mode ends up coming out on top,” said Kim Cella, executive director of Citizens for Modern Transit.

The public is invited and encouraged to rally behind their favorite team by “liking” the TEAM TRANSIT, TEAM BIKE or TEAM CARSHARE pages on Facebook. Links to the pages can be found on CMT’s website at www.cmt-stl.org or via CMT’s Facebook page.  Special team t-shirts will also be available for sale soon at http://stl-style.com.

In addition to supporting their favorite team on Facebook, the public is invited to wear their team colors and cheer on their favorite team at the race kick-off event at Post Office Plaza, or meet up with their favorite team at the finish line at C.J. Muggs. CMT, Trailnet and WeCar by Enterprise will host a finish line party from  5 to 6:30 p.m. The event will feature food, refreshments and an appearance from the Y98 prize van and Y98 staffers who will be on hand with games and prizes. Those attending the finish line party in support of the winning team will also be entered into a raffle for the chance to win a special prize package featuring items specific to the winning transportation mode.

The Great Race and all of CMT’s “Make Your Move on Metro in May” events are supported by the St. Louis Regional Clean Air Partnership. To learn more about the Great Race and the other events scheduled for May, visit www.cmt-stl.org, find Citizens for Modern Transit on Facebook or follow them on Twitter @cmt_stl.

Citizens for Modern Transit is a not-for-profit organization in St. Louis whose mission is to expand the light rail system in order to build more sustainable, accessible communities in the region.

 

For more information, contact:

Shelene Treptow, The Hauser Group, (314) 436-9090

Kim Cella, Citizens for Modern Transit, (314) 231-7272