Commuter disappointed by lack of participation in area challenge

McMaster University is one of 38 area organizations participating in the Hamilton-Wentworth Commuter Challenge. Other participants include:

For all five days:

7 Canada Centre for Inland Waters
7 City of Hamilton/Region of Hamilton/Wentworth
7 Community Services and Public Health Committee of Regional Council
7 Environmental Services Committee of Regional Council
7 Green Venture
7 Hamilton Conservatory for the Arts
7 Hamilton & District Chamber of Commerce
7 Hamilton Family YMCA
7 Hamilton Street Railway
7 LaserTech 2000
7 Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority
7 Ontario Ministry of the Environment, West Central Region
7 Royal Botanical Gardens
7 St. Joseph's Hospital
7 Trees for Life Canada
7 United Way of Burlington, Hamilton-Wentworth
7 Valley City Manufacturing Co.
7 Members of the Hamilton Industrial Environmental Assoc. (HIEA):
7 CanAmera Foods
7 Columbian Chemicals Ltd.
7 Dofasco
7 Heckett MultiServ
7 LaFarge Hamilton Slag
7 Montank Inc.
7 Philip Services Inc.
7 Slater Steels
7 Stelco Hilton works
7 VFT Inc.

The following organizations participated for one day only, Totally Transit Day, on June 7:

7 Hamilton Psychiatric Hospital
7 Hamilton Region Conservation Authority
7 Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board
7 Hamilton-Wentworth District Health Council
7 Redeemer College
7 Stelwire Ltd.
7 TD Canada Trust
7 The Volunteer Centre of Hamilton & District
7 Stelwire Ltd.

Thursday, June 8 participants

7 Hamilton Fire Department

McMaster University is the only major employer with any registrants, a fact that prompted Gwen Crossan, a participant in the commuter challenge and member of the McMaster community, to e-mail this letter to the Daily News on June 7:

“When you first covered the commuter challenge, I was disappointed to see that only 35 McMaster people (.01%) had registered. However, today I looked at the statistics across the country.

In Hamilton-Wentworth, we are the only major employer with ANY
registrants. The city average is .008% or 51 people in total. Contrast
this figure with Calgary's .24%. For a city with a reputation for being very polluted, we should have done better.

Now some informal observations made this morning while I waited for the bus at King and Hughson:

* Cars with a single occupant outnumber cars with multiple riders three to one.

*Pick-up truck drivers are more likely to have passengers than
any other vehicle.

* There doesn't appear to be a gender difference when it comes
to single occupant cars.

So, there's my two-cents worth, money I can well afford since I started to take the bus to work.”