Representatives from Citizens for Modern Transit and the St. Louis Green Business Challenge officially named the local green design firm, Christner, Inc., as the winner of its Try & Ride Green Business Leaders Commuter Challenge. The announcement was made during the Green Business Challenge meeting held last week at Lakeside Café at the Saint Louis Zoo. The competition placed St. Louis-based Arcturis, Christner, Inc., Jacobs and The Lawrence Group in a head-to-head competition to encourage employees to integrate MetroLink or MetroBus into their daily work commute at least two times per week over a two-month period. Christner secured the winning title based on its employee participation rate, transit usage, availability of transit subsidies, the organization’s level of continued commitment to transit after the period and the company’s efforts to raise awareness about the benefits of the alternative commute.
“A little over six months ago, Citizens for Modern Transit rolled out the Try & Ride program in an effort to address some of the perceived hurdles associated with using public transit by encouraging area residents to give transit a try for their work commute,” commented Kim Cella, executive director of Citizens for Modern Transit. “This workplace challenge served as an organized extension of the Try & Ride program, which is currently being utilized by more than 1,300 area residents employed region wide.”
The Try & Ride program is available to any Missouri or Illinois resident who is a new rider to the MetroLink or MetroBus. Upon registration, participants receive a personalized transit route from their home to work, tickets to ride transit for the first month, enrollment in the Guaranteed Ride Home Program, tips and tricks on how to ride, a commuter journal and more. Those who register commit to using transit for two months. The cost of the first month of transit tickets is covered by Citizens for Modern Transit, while the cost of second month is the responsibility of the individual commuters. For those working at organizations that offer full or partial subsidies, transit passes for the second month’s ride were covered by the employers.
In order to participate in the Try & Ride Green Business Leaders Commuter Challenge, the four participating companies had to get a minimum of 10 percent of their employee base to commit to traveling to work via MetroLink or MetroBus at least two times per week for the two-month competition period. The winner was determined based on the total number of points earned on the official Try & Ride Green Business Leaders Commuter Challenge scorecard that analyzed a series of categories. Christner, Inc., and The Lawrence Group both earned 12 scorecard points out of a possible 17. However, Christner, Inc., ultimately secured the winning title through a series of differentiators, including the fact that the company had seven employee participants, logged the longest walk to work from the transit station, had the largest number of employees using transit outside of the workplace and collectively eliminated 3,505 miles of personal vehicle use from the roadways.
“Congratulations to Christner, Inc.,” added Cella. “It was a fun competition and all of the teams did an excellent job. This effort helped eliminate 11,887 miles of personal vehicle use from local roadways, while collectively saving participants approximately $7,225 in gas, vehicle maintenance and other expenses associated with driving.”
The competition ran from Sept. 2, 2014 to Nov. 2, 2014. Each of the participating companies also received “innovation” points for their involvement in the Try & Ride Green Business Leaders Commuter Challenge, which were credited towards their overall Green Business Challenge scorecard.
“This commuter challenge was an exciting addition to this year’s Green Business Challenge,” said Jean Ponzi, Green Resources Manager at Missouri Botanical Garden and coach of over 150 Challenge companies. “Alternative transportation is a big educational and ‘make a change!’ element of our business-greening efforts. Our design firms have set a standard that other companies are eager to try to beat in new competitions in this new year.”
To learn more about Citizens for Modern Transit’s new Try & Ride program, how individuals can register for this free resource or how area employers can get involved, visit www.cmt-stl.org or call (314) 231-7272. You can also find them on Facebook or follow them on Twitter @cmt_stl.
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Citizens for Modern Transit
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.
St. Louis Green Business Challenge
Presented by the St. Louis Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Missouri Botanical Garden, the St. Louis Green Business Challenge delivers “triple-bottom line” results (financial, social, and environmental) to companies and organizations across the St. Louis region. Participants use a Scorecard to guide strategic, cost-beneficial implementation of a wide range of sustainable options that address the everyday operations common to every business. Engaging seminars, lively networking events, peer-to-peer mentoring and customized coaching inspire company actions, from “green basics” to innovations. Since 2010, over 150 companies representing more than 110,000 employees, have participated in the Challenge.
For More Information, Contact:
Kelly Harris
The Hauser Group
(314) 436-9090
Kim Cella
Citizens for Modern Transit
(314) 231-7272
Jean Ponzi
St. Louis Green Business Challenge
314-577-0246