Smart Trips Month winners gather at luncheon

Winners of the Smart Trips Month awards gathered June 10 at the Square Room on Market Square for an awards luncheon. Displaying their certificates of recognition are (from left): Elizabeth Eason Architect employees Matthew Kellogg, Monika Miller, Andrew Godwin and Elizabeth Eason (winners of the Small Business Challenge with highest participation by a small business during Smart Trips Month); Chris Barrett (winner of the Wheel to Reel video contest); Jeremy Chandler (Go Getter award recipient as a runner-up for Longest Bicycle Commute, Most Diverse Commute and overall support of the program); Jim Smith (Longest Bicycle Commute, with an approximate round trip of 50 miles); recipients of the Most People in a Carpool award Alan Sims, Jessica Humphrey, Janie Shanafield and Kevin Webb; TVA employee Regina Mackay (accepting the Large Business award for TVA with the highest number of new registrants during Smart Trips Month); and Carlos Yunsan (recipient of the Most Diverse Commute for combining carpooling, transit and walking each day on his route to work). Not pictured: Paul Clouse, winner of the Wheel to Reel video contest; Lisa Webb, member of the Most People in a Carpool; Adam Dattillo, Go Getter; and Charles Weber, tied for the Longest Bicycle Commute.

Air Quality Days

Don't forget KAT is offering free bus rides on air quality action days this summer.

Sign up for the Weather Alerts from WBIR and get notified automatically when there is an Air Quality Alert day of Orange or higher!
To sign up, just go to the WBIR Text Alerts sign-up page, enter your information and select either the "Severe Weather Alert" for Knox County or the "Daily Weather Forecast."

More on our air quality here from Knox County:
http://www.knoxcounty.org/current09/air_alert.php
First Knoxville Air Alert Issued in 2009
Posted: June 3, 2009
The first air quality alert for the Knoxville valley and Great Smoky Mountains was issued for June 1st. This alert came a month later than last year, in spite of new ozone standards that went in effect in 2008. The revised standards are based on new scientific evidence and are more protective of human health. The alerts are issued much as a weather forecast in that conditions such that poor air quality may result. Thirty-two alerts were issued last year between April 1st and mid-September, though not all resulted in poor air quality days. The Environmental Protection Agency's AirNow website http://airnow.gov/ provides current air quality conditions and forecasts.

Following are steps you can take to reduce air pollution:

Car pool or use public transportation (KAT is free on air alert days
Limit engine idling, skip the drive thru
Combine errands
Conserve energy by turning off unneeded appliances/lights
Cut back air conditioning
Postpone lawn mowing and filling of gas tanks until evening
No open burning
Take your lunch or walk to a nearby restaurant

New KAT buses and future plans

I attended the KAT press conference yesterday that unveiled the look of the new shiny buses and announced details of upcoming changes, including proposed route changes to accompany the 2010 transit center opening and helpful new GPS systems.
More info is here... http://www.cityofknoxville.org/Press_Releases/Content/2009/0609c.asp
Any thoughts?

Fun bus stops around the world

http://www.toxel.com/inspiration/2009/05/01/15-unusual-and-creative-bus-stops/

Bus stops of the future?

Thanks to Emily Murphy for this:
http://senseable.mit.edu/eyestop/
from MIT news:
Riders can plan a bus trip on an interactive map, surf the Web, monitor their real-time exposure to pollutants and use their mobile devices as an interface with the bus shelter. They can also post ads and community announcements to an electronic bulletin board at the bus stop, enhancing the EyeStop's functionality as a community. “The EyeStop could change the whole experience of urban travel," said Carlo Ratti, Head of the SENSEable City Lab at MIT. "At the touch of a finger, passengers can get the shortest bus route to their destination or the position of all the buses in the city. The EyeStop will also glow at different levels of intensity to signal the distance of an approaching bus."
In addition to displaying information, the bus stop also acts as an active environmental sensing node, powering itself through sunlight and collecting real-time information about the surrounding environment. “EyeStop is like an 'info-tape' that snakes through the city," said project leader Giovanni de Niederhousern. "It senses information about the environment and distributes it in a form accessible to all citizens.”

One more for the road

While I'm at it, I'll mention that now that Smart Trips Month planning is behind me, I hope to start posting relevant meetings, updates, and alternative transporation links and info locally, regionally and globally here on a regular basis. So check back often and keep me on my toes.

Metro Pulse highlights Knoxville cycling!

Our very own Kelley Segars is featured in this week's Metro Pulse bike extravaganza issue. Check it all out at http://www.metropulse.com/knoxville-bicycle-guide/

Fit in a Fit photos

Home Federal Bank enjoyed their Tomato Head pizza party May 21 to celebrate the team's repeat victory at the May 8 How Many Can You Fit in a Fit event on Market Square. Check out the photos of their team and the MPC, TVA and KUB teams at http://www.knoxsmarttrips.org/stmonth/2009/fit_pix.htm
We've received the second submission in the Wheel to Reel video contest and they're both pretty awesome. See them online at http://www.youtube.com/group/smarttripswheeltoree and upload your 2-minute video! All submissions will air on CTV to promote Smart Trips and will be screened at the Smart Trips Award Luncheon June 9 at Cafe 4. Prizes will be awarded!
Thanks and enjoy this lovely Memorial Day weekend with a family bike ride or walk along the greenways.

Wheel to Reel Contest is taking off!

http://www.youtube.com/group/smarttripswheeltoree

Bike to Work Day 2009 Knoxville

http://www.knoxsmarttrips.org/stmonth/2009/btw_pix.htm

Fit in the Fit

Click to Play

The TVA team un-squeezes from the car.

Hidden Knoxville Walk Re-do!

Hidden Knoxville Walk rescheduled for 5:30 p.m., Tuesday, May 12
We were rained out on Wednesday, but here's your second chance to join Jack Neely, Secret History columnist for MetroPulse, on the Hidden Knoxville Walk. We'll go to Mechanicsville, Knoxville College, the Warehouse District and other interesting spots that are all within walking distance of downtown, even if the way to get there may not be obvious. We’ll meet at the future site of downtown Knoxville’s dog park, the intersection of Summit Hill and Central Avenue.

Task Force report on Knoxville energy usage and waste reduction

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2009/apr/24/report-shows-knoxvillians-too-trashy/

Together! Healthy Knox

The community-wide launch of Together! Healthy Knox will be today, April 13, in conjunction with a three-part, consecutive-day series about health in Knox County on the Knoxville News Sentinel, which began Sunday, April 12th.

What are the major health concerns in your neighborhood? What needs to happen to improve health and quality of life in Knox County? Through Together! Healthy Knox, your answers to these questions will be an important piece in creating a community-wide plan for better health. Knox County Health Department is launching Together! Healthy Knox and anyone who lives, works, worships or plays in Knox County can take part. The ultimate goal is to achieve a community in which every person is a healthy person.

To get started on this path to better health for our community, we invite you to visit www.healthyknox.org to take the Together! Healthy Knox survey. While you browse the site, you can also sign up for a focus group or participate in a discussion board. Your input and opinions are key to helping identify the top health issues in Knox County because, in the coming months, a community-wide partnership will be formed to develop an action plan to make a lasting and positive impact on the health priorities you help identify.

No single person or agency can make a community healthy. It will take us all working together! Your participation is important to the success of Together! Healthy Knox. Visit www.healthyknox.org or call 215-5549 for more information, to provide your input, and to get involved in this community approach to better health.

Remember, there are two ways to participate:
Take the Knox County Health & Quality of Life Survey at www.healthyknox.org/survey
Sign up to attend one of the upcoming Health & Quality of Life Focus Groups. Find one that fits your schedule at www.healthyknox.org/focus_groups.html. Participants must pre-register by calling 215-5160 or 215-5180. Space is limited.

Please participate. All our voices matter.
Visit the website, www.healthyknox.org, for more information.

From the Metro Pulse: Bicycles vs. Cars on Knoxville Roads

Interesting article from Jack Neely on sharing the road:
http://www.metropulse.com/news/2009/apr/07/bicycles-vs-cars-knoxville-roads/