Congratulations to the lucky winners of the online contest

• Nasreen Sultana - 12-Month Bus Pass from OC Transpo

• Alnoor Allidina - $500 Voucher from Via Rail

• David Holton - $500 Voucher from Via Rail

• Kelsey Chiappa - $500 Voucher from Via Rail

• Berry de Bruijn - $500 Voucher from Via Rail

• Jim Laws - CAN-BIKE Cycling Course from City Wide Sports

• Meng Xi Shen - Annual Car-Share Membership from VRTUCAR

 

Thank you for participating and see you next year!

Sustainable Transportation Week 2012 was a great success!

Sustainable Transportation Week 2012 and the Car-Free Challenge were a great success. Instead of driving in a car alone, 669 residents took the online Car-Free Challenge and chose to carpool, walk, bike or bus – saving over 10,000 kilograms of greenhouse gas emissions while getting to work or bringing home groceries during the week of September 16-22.  Their efforts are equivalent to capturing CO2 for 10 years with 267 tree seedlings.  This year’s prizes included a 12-month OC Transpo bus pass, 4 x $500 VIA Rail vouchers, a CAN-BIKE cycling safety course, and an annual car sharing membership from VRTUCAR.  As a new addition to the contest this year, everyone who registered online received a 15% discount at local retailers throughout the week.

An enthusiastic group of 60 community members, City Councillors and professionals attended the 6:45am breakfast conference titled “Creating winning projects for walkable communities”. Resources, neighbourhood walkability scores for Ottawa areas, new city supports for neighbourhood projects, and the recently created Walk Ottawa group were introduced by the four presentations.

CTV Morning Live host Jeff Hopper, reporter Sarah Freemark, and CTV News at Six anchor Graham Richardson raced against morning traffic in the Bike-Bus-Car Challenge.  The bike, bus and car contestants left St. Laurent Shopping Centre at 7:45am, commuting to the Byward Market to join Mayor Watson at the finish line with a positive message about how to reduce stress, save money, and decongest traffic jams.   Even though Jeff came first in the car, Graham quickly followed on bike 3 minutes later, arriving to work feeling fresh.  Just 5 minutes later, as Sarah walked from her bus, Jeff admitted, “I may have got here first, but I feel tense.  I just spent $18 on parking my car, not to mention what I pay for gas and insurance.  Plus while I was building stress you two were releasing it”.

Despite the rain, the Bike Parade on Car-Free Day was a lively event, with Councillor Chernushenko joining community association members and residents cycling from Brewer Park to Main Street Farmer’s Market.