On September 22, Smart Trips is hosting Car Free Day and Bike to Work Day for the greater Knoxville region. Both events encourage individuals to ditch their keys and find a different way to get around town.
Car Free Day is a worldwide event that encourages alternatives to driving alone in a car. Telework, bike, walk, scooter, ride the bus, or carpool/vanpool to any destination on September 22nd and make a positive impact on our region’s air quality and traffic congestion. Taking this pledge automatically enters individuals into a prize drawing for $100 Amazon gift cards.
Bike to Work Day will also be celebrated on September 22 and is a way for people who have considered biking to work, whether to save money or to improve their health, to try it out. Events held throughout the month of September encourage people to try bike commuting for the first time and also celebrate the efforts of Knoxville’s committed bike commuters. Smart Trips, a program that rewards people for making alternatives to driving alone, has tracked approximately 7,300 bike trips over the last year. Collectively, these bicyclists traveled more than 38,000 miles. Those trips saved 1,800 gallons of gas and kept more than 35,000 pounds of greenhouse gases out of the air. They also burned over 2 million calories and saved over $9,000 in the process.
Smart Trips is a free online program that rewards people for driving less by providing incentives to carpool, vanpool, bike, walk, take transit, telecommute, and work compressed schedules. Those who log at least one alternative commute per week on the Smart Trips website or app are automatically entered into quarterly drawings for $50 and $100 gift cards. Participants can also shop in the program’s commuter store with the points they earn when they log. Housed within the Knoxville Regional Transportation Planning Organization, Smart Trips is a program designed to ease traffic congestion and improve air quality in the region. To find more information about the program and to sign up, visit www.knoxsmarttrips.org.
