Posted on May 30: Hike. Bike. Bus. Carpool. By canoe. On horseback. By piggyback.
[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/commchall03.jpg” caption=”Alison Sills commutes with her daughter”]
How many different ways can you get to McMaster? The ACT Office (Alternative Commuting & Transportation) has a couple of suggestions: bike, bus, rideshare, canoe, horseback, piggyback, telecommute. If you need a motivating partner, walk your dog (sorry, there are no dog-sitters at the ACT Office), or find a friend. ACT Office coordinators, Jen Dawson and Daryl Bender, are encouraging all members of the McMaster community faculty, staff, students to participate in this year's Commuter Challenge.
The Commuter Challenge is a weeklong competition between Canadian cities to see which one can cut its air pollution the most by using environmentally-friendly modes of transportation.
Alison Sills, Assistant Professor of Physics & Astronomy at McMaster, will be using her bicycle to transport herself and her commuting partner (pictured above) to Mac during the Commuter Challenge. Sills, a regular cycle-commuter, enjoys the fitness benefits of cycling.
“I have a 3 1/2 year old daughter plus a full time job, so I don't have a lot of time to get to the gym. Even when I did have the time, I'm incurably lazy, and tend not to go. So this way, I have 15 minutes of aerobic exercise, every single day,” she explains. She also enjoys the convenience, cost-savings, and stress reduction cycling gives her. For Sills, her mode of transportation influences her lifestyle in other ways.
“Before I came to McMaster, I lived in the UK and I didn't own a car (or a bicycle for that matter). I walked everywhere, which was much easier there than here. It was a wonderful change from what I had been doing prior to that, which was living in the suburbs of Columbus, Ohio, and driving everywhere… My experience in England was eye-opening in terms of lifestyle choices, and when I moved to Hamilton, I made a point of choosing a place to live that would allow me to leave my car at home most of the time.”
During the Commuter Challenge (June 1-7, 2003), join Sills in leaving your car behind and finding a new way of getting to McMaster. All you have to do is make a commitment to walk, jog, cycle, in-line skate, ride a bus, telecommute or share the ride to McMaster. If you can't participate all week, try for Wednesday June 4, which is Clean Air Day and the date of the national competition.
McMaster's ACT Office is organizing the campus' Commuter Challenge campaign. In order for your efforts to be counted, record your participation on the online form WHICH WILL BE available SHORTLY on the ACT web site.
Mac Activities Include:
- special FREE Ancaster HSR express bus service from the Zellers bus stop at Meadowlands via the 403 to McMaster's Main Campus
- special FREE HSR bus service through Dundas directly to Main Campus via Cootes Drive
- access to FREE tickets to ride any HSR route on Wednesday June 4
- rewards for people taking a transportation alternative to campus
Details on these promotions can be found on the ACT web site.
Dawson and Bender challenge members of the McMaster community to follow Sills', and other commuters', example. “We can show Hamilton how it is done, and in turn show Canadians that Hamilton is acting to improve air quality.”
“Getting to work can be fun…and fulfilling. Take up the Challenge!”
