Tenth Annual Smart Commute Emmet

Kick off June with Smart Commute, brought to you by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan

Emmet County’s 2019 Smart Commute Week will be held June 3th – 7th.  During this week, each day you smart commute – carpool, ride your bike, walk, take EMGO – for any trip instead of use  your car, not only will you be eligible for free breakfasts at specific locations, you’ll be saving gas and carbon emissions!

The goal of Smart Commute is to promote alternative forms of commuting to school, work and other activities. Participants are encouraged to walk, bike, carpool and–new for this year – use EMGO (Emmet County transit); thereby saving gas and carbon emissions, and improving their overall health through increased physical activity. This promotion of environmentally and physically healthy forms of transportation organized by the Top of Michigan Trails Council is in its 10^th year.

Many individuals in Emmet County use the Little Traverse Wheelway and the North Western State Trails to commute to and from work and school during the warm-weather months, and this event inspires others to get on board with finding healthy, economical and environmentally friendly ways to get around. This year it might also help alleviate traffic due to construction!

During the initial week of Smart Commute, both individuals and area businesses are encouraged to participate. The goal is to complete as many smart commuting trips as possible, in order to qualify for a “Smart Commute Certification.” Participants will also enjoy breakfasts graciously provided by area restaurants. Breakfasts will be available Monday through Thursday, with a final gathering featuring prizes on Friday, June 7^th from 8-9 am.

Last year, with participants continuing to document their smart commutes over the summer months, Smart Commuters covered a lot of ground. They traveled 9,383 miles, the distance from here to Australia. Saved 408 Gallons of gasoline, roughly the amount consumed by an average American in a year. Kept 8,159 pounds of Co2 out of the atmosphere – roughly the weight of two Ford F-150 trucks. And our best experts figure we generated approximately 3,756 smiles and that’s only counting direct smiles, not secondary smiles, so the true effect could be much higher! The program will be extended again this year, and commuters will log miles on our new and streamlined Smart Commute Emmet website: www.smartcommuteemmet.org.

For a quick overview of the program, click here.

Smart Commute Week is made possible this year Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and an amazing group of community volunteers. Additional donations in support of this program are always welcome.

If you would like to get involved in Smart Commute this year, as an individual or as a team, contact Becca at (231) 348-8280 or email btn@trailscouncil.org.