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/

Try Transit

Try Transit during Smart Trips Month in May and share your experiences in a 1,500 word or less essay for a chance to win a $50 gift card. For details, visit our website.
Need inspiration? Read "The Last Bus Home" here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/29/opinion/29purves.html?scp=1&sq=last%20bus%20home&st=cse

Vote for Smart Trips through April 7

Thanks to your support, we are now a finalist in the Green Mountain Coffee Roasters' Changing Climate Change competition! Please visit http://www.justmeans.com/competitionidea/10374/promoteidea.html through April 7 and vote for us to increase our chances of winning a $200,000 grant to expand our program. Spread the word!

Knox County Health Department's A Walk in the Park

Smart Trips will have a table - come by and say hi!

Event: A Walk in the Park, National Public Health Week

Purpose: To provide a fun event for the community that encourages healthy behaviors and highlights community resources.

Date: Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Time: 5:30 PM - 7:00 PM

Location: New Harvest Park, 4775 New Harvest Lane, Knoxville,

http://www.knoxcounty.org/parks/harvest_park.php

Wheel to Reel Contest - unleash your inner Scorsese

WHEEL TO REEL CONTEST
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
Smart Trips invites you to show your work and your support for our program as part of Smart Trips Month this May – create and submit a short digital film inspired by our mission to improve our region’s air quality and quality of life by promoting alternatives to driving alone. Your work will not only be featured on our website and on CTV, but could also be used by Smart Trips in future marketing and awareness campaigns – the winning film will be screened at a Smart Trips award ceremony in June!

Smart Trips Month is held every May and includes a series of educational, fun and health-promoting events throughout the area. Throughout the month, digital shorts will air on CTV and be linked to our website to raise awareness about the importance of improving our air quality by using alternative modes of transportation. This is where you come in!

Create a digital short that is 2 minutes or less – get creative! Any genre is welcome, from animation to documentary and everything in between. The content should be inspired by our goal of improving air quality and the quality of life in our community through promoting alternatives to driving alone. Submissions may be used in the future promotion of our program through marketing and public awareness campaigns.

Shorts must be uploaded to Google Video with KnoxSmartTrips in the title and submitted on DVD to Smart Trips, c/o KRTPO, Suite 403, 400 Main Street, Knoxville, TN 37902 by May 15.

Any questions? Call or email Elizabeth Wright at 215-2916 or smarttrips@knoxtrans.org

Seeking local artists!

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
Smart Trips invites you to show your work and your support for our program at an event Friday, May 1 that will be part of Knoxville’s First Friday art walk – your work could be used by Smart Trips in future marketing and awareness campaigns and the winner will receive a $200 grand prize!

Smart Trips Month is held every May and includes a series of educational, fun and health-promoting events throughout the area. We have partnered with KAT to host a First Friday Art Bus – the public will be invited to board the bus, learn about public transit and view local art inspired by transportation and commuting issues. This is where you come in!

Create a work of art that can be displayed in a KAT bus on Friday, May 1, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. The work should be inspired by our goal of improving air quality and the quality of life in our community through promoting alternatives to driving alone. Submissions may be used in the future promotion of our program through marketing and public awareness campaigns.
Artists who submit work should be available Friday, May 1, at 4 p.m. to display their work and should be available again at 8 p.m. to retrieve their work. All artists are also invited to join us throughout the event as we meet the public, appreciate your artwork and promote alternatives to driving alone.
A jpeg photograph of the finished product must be emailed to smarttrips@knoxtrans.org by Monday, April 20 at 5 p.m. You will then be notified by email to confirm your appearance at our First Friday Art Bus event.
Questions? Call Elizabeth Wright at 215-2916 or email smarttrips@knoxtrans.org
Thanks for your support and creativity – we look forward to working with you!

Vote for Smart Trips!

You can support funding that would allow us to expand our program by visiting the following website and voting for Smart Trips:
http://www.justmeans.com/competitionidea/10374/promoteidea.html
This is a spam-free site, but you will be required to provide your email address and a password to vote. Thanks for your help and feel free to pass the link along!

Smoggy skies and respiratory disease

A bit depressing, but definite motivation to take more Smart Trips:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=101694787

Sec. of Transportation LaHood discusses livable communities and cycling

http://fastlane.dot.gov/

Upcoming Opportunities with Smart Trips

We're gearing up for Smart Trips Month in May and there are many ways you can get involved:

- Unleash your inner director/actor/stuntperson!
Make a short movie, video or documentary about your commute and submit it as an entry in our Wheels and Reels video contest! The possibilities are endless, but keep it under two minutes! More details to follow on submission rules, deadlines and prizes...

- Be a bike guide!
Smart Trips will attend the Oak Ridge Earth Day April 25 at Bissell Park (http://www.orearthday.org/pages/index.html) and we're helping the organizers, East Tennessee Earth Alliance, make the event as car-free as possible. If you're familiar with Oak Ridge bike routes and would like to lead guided bike routes to the festival or if you plan to attend the festival from Knoxville and would be willing to carpool, please contact Elizabeth Wright at 215-2916 or smarttrips@knoxtrans.org.

- Give us feedback!
The Bicycle Advisory Committee would like bicyclists to review our five bike routes in Knoxville: http://www.knoxtrans.org/plans/bikeprog/resource.htm#routes
When you ride a route, think about these questions:--is this the best route, or are there other roads that would be better?--are there problems that could be easily fixed along the way (e.g., drain grate higher or lower than pavement, pothole)--what sections do you feel uncomfortable on, but know that it's better than the alternatives?
We are hoping to get signage on these routes, but wanted to make sure they are the best they can be first! Once you've ridden a route and have input, send it to kelley.segars@knoxtrans.org Please include the day of the week and time of day that you rode. We'd like to get this information ASAP.

- Join our Facebook group!
Visit http://www.facebook.com/posted.php?id=130987700079&success#/group.php?gid=130987700079 and select "Join this Group" to meet other Smart Trippers, discuss commutes and routes and share commuting-related events and news.

- Don't hesitate to nominate!
We're always seeking Commuters of the Month. The competition is heavy, but the winner gets a $25 gift card! Recognize the most enthusiastic Smart Tripper you know by submitting a nomination to smarttrips@knoxtrans.org.

- Spread the word!
Know someone or a company you think would benefit from joining Smart Trips? Encourage them to visit our website, call or email to receive more information and get signed up as a participant.

- Keep up the good work!
Our participant numbers and logged commutes just keep going up and up! In the last year alone, Smart Trippers have reduced almost 1,500,000 vehicle miles traveled and have prevented more than 1 million pounds of CO2 emissions from entering our environment.

A bit belated, but we must mention the January Commuter of the Month!

Sandra Hubbard was named the January Commuter of the Month after we heard from several of Sandra's co-workers at the Crowne Plaza Hotel telling us what a committed transit commuter she is. She takes the bus to work every day, and is always encouraging the folks she works with to take the bus or try carpooling.
We asked Sandra what she enjoys about her commute, and why she chooses to take the bus to work every day. She tells us, "I really love walking to work in the mornings (from the bus). The view from the bridge is so beautiful and that's when I prepare myself for my day. Not having to be stuck in traffic or worry about cars in front of me or anything. It's very relaxing. Everyone at KAT treats their passengers with respect and courtesy. They go out of their way to help us to get where we're going. I don't think people realize how easy it is to be a commuter or to even try. I love Knoxville, my hometown, and I would love for us to fix some of the air quality issues we have here. With just a little effort, we could make a difference."
We agree with Sandra on that one. Thanks for being such a wonderful ambassador for the Smart Trips program. To say thanks, we mailed Sandra a $25 gift card to Regal Cinemas.



Want to nominate someone for commuter of month?
Please send your nomination to Smart Trips . Include your name and contact information, the commuter's name, and why you think your nominee should be the Smart Trips Commuter of the Month. You can nominate as many people as you would like, and we'll send you a small token of our appreciation for sending us your nominations. The winner of the Commuter of the Month contest will receive a $25 gift card from Smart Trips. (Please note, to be eligible to win, all nominees must be participating Smart Trips members.)

And December's Commuter of the Month is...

Congratulations to our December Commuter of the Month...Bill Gurley! Bill is a long-time rider of the Halls Express bus, and he was nominated by two of his fellow KAT commuters who thought he deserved to be recognized for enthusiastically promoting transit to his neighbors in Halls and Fountain City as well as his co-workers at U.T.

Gail Chapman sent us an email telling us about a web site Bill had created to help spread the word about the Hall Express to folks that work downtown, U.T. and TVA. (Good stuff!) And fellow rider Doug Brown tells us, "This gentleman lives and breathes conservation in all avenues from home refuse through travel. He travels the KAT Halls Express. A helpful, kindred spirit with no hate towards anyone. Almost reminds me of the hippy days of the 60's. He even has a short beard. To overlook him would be a shame indeed." Well, that's when we knew we had a winner.We asked Bill to tell us a little about his commute, and how he came to be such a staunch supporter of transit. Bill told us, "I've been working at UT for 24 years. Over the years, I had considered trying out riding the bus several times, but didn't get around to it until about three years ago. Now I feel really stupid that I waited so long! The commuters who ride the Halls Express are a diverse and really friendly group of people. We all enjoy, at various times, talking, reading, listening to music, and just relaxing, while commuting to and from work. My initial motivation for riding the bus was my own environmental concern. I would like to see mass transit grow in our area; I would love to see more people choose transit over "riding alone." But now that I have jumped into transit, I have realized the joy of not fighting the traffic on my own, so there are selfish reasons for riding the bus too!"As most people know by now, the KAT Express routes were threatened with extinction last year. The riders of the Halls Express organized ourselves with a Google Groups list and began a campaign of contacting public officials and media outlets to try to reverse the decision to eliminate express routes. Farragut and Cedar Bluff folks also joined in, and eventually we were able to save our routes. All of the Halls riders are great ambassadors for transit!"
We're glad to have such enthusiastic Smart Trip members like Bill, and congratulate him as our Commuter of the Month! We'll be happily sending him a $25 gift card to Mast General Store to say thanks.

Some nice words from one of our Commuter Challenge winners...

We now have 5 people in our carpool and I have really been enjoying the camaraderie. Since different people are riding and driving every day, it's difficult to keep track of who owes who a ride. I invented a system where each rider gives the driver one of his business cards whenever he rides. When the rider drives, he gets his cards back from whoever has driven for him before, or else they give him one of their cards. So far it's worked very well.
Considering the money I've saved on gas, the new friends I've made, not to mention the nice prizes you offer, it's well worth the small inconvenience of working to a more rigid schedule.
--Bill Schwenterly

Our November Commuter of the Month (and his carpool posse!)

Congratulations, and many thanks to Alan Sims for being such a committed carpool advocate. We think this is one fine looking carpool, too!

Throwing the trappings of modern transportation...

I must have heard a thousand birds...
Riding the bike, traveling slower and more in tune than in the car
No longer listening to the sounds of talk radio
Nor the notes of corporate music that all sound the same
None of the traffic and noise of large semis barreling down the highway
Instead, I notice that I hear the sound of a thousand birds.
The ride takes twice as long as to drive
But the pleasure is many times greater
I pedal through neighborhoods, watching the squirrels
Enjoying them playing and chattering, running from yard to yard
Tree to tree, power line to power line
And still, the sound of a thousand birds
There were cardinals, blue jays, mockingbirds, mocking them all
Two robins danced the mating ritual on the deserted stretch of road
Two blackbirds fought, darting through the trees
One diving and attacking the other before the tables turn
And I still enjoy the sound of a thousand birds
The fragrance of blooming trees and flowers
The sound of quiet mornings, hearing my breathing as I climb the hill
To a view of the sun rising far on the horizon
Bathing the light blue to black sky with a crimson, orange-yellow hue
Listening to the sound of a thousand birds
The ride has ended as the work day begins
I'm tired but revitalized, having thrown the trappings of modern transportation
Relying on my own strengths to travel the journey
And as the journey is why we are here, why not enjoy
The sound of a thousand birds.
I think of the travels, how we need to slow down and be more aware
Enhancing our travels by being in tune with the world around us
In tune with those around us, with thoughts of love and friends
In tune with nature and the sounds we are so blessed to hear
The sound of a thousand birds.
As everyone asks how my ride was
I share the experiences, the sights, smells and sounds
And then I answer their question with a single sentence...