After manhandling the 2014 local Commuter Challenge, we had to step up our game as the competition went statewide this year.
For the month of May companies across the Treasure State competed against each other by walking, riding bikes, or taking public transit to work. Businesses of relative size competed against each other, and the company with the most miles logged at the end of the month won their respective bracket. We consistently clocked in mileage, and by the end of the month, we had just shy of 2,000 miles. That’s roughly the distance between Bozeman, MT and New York City!
Mileage played a small factor in this year’s Commuter Challenge when determining the victory, as organizations were judged on their overall participation. With around a 40% participation rate TRG’s commitment to winning was not to be taken lightly. The participation rate was determined by the total number of trips taken in the month by all employees (not just the ones participating), divided by the total number of trips that could have been taken by all employees.
Knowing that we had to keep participation up and keep everyone motivated, we held weekly events away from the office. Although is was rainy, during the first week we headed to Max Wilke’s place and had a BBQ during our lunch break. The following week, the weather cleared up and we gathered at a local park for some fun in the sun. Another way to instill motivation came in the form of apparel as salesmen Travis Smith took it upon himself to make custom TRG T-shirts to commemorate the 2015 Commuter Challenge. We wore them proudly as we promoted a healthy lifestyle and cut down on carbon emissions.
Our 43 commuters registered for TRG made 420 trips and had a commuter rate of 41.96%. With 1781.39 miles logged, the company saved about 1746 lbs of CO2 from being emitted into the air. Racking up a total 1781.39 miles with 43 riders, we came in first in the 25-99 Employees bracket.
President John Michel, spoke about TRG’s character during the Commuter Challenge,
“The Montana Commuter Challenge, and our employees’ organic motivation to not only participate but try to win, is a perfect example of one of our TRG Core Values at work – the Montana Esprit de Corps. Our group ‘pedaled up and walked’ into the number one spot for our size category in the state of Montana, and it was a significant team effort.”
To say the least, May was a very exciting month for us!
