The 4^th Annual Alamo Area Walk & Roll Personal Challenge logged over 41,300 “smart” miles, reducing 153 pounds of vehicle pollution during September.  These “smart” miles are efficient and healthy modes of transportation that save gas and money, improve air quality, and provide health benefits.  These include such options as carpooling, vanpooling, riding the bus, riding a bicycle, or walking while we commute to work or school; leave home for recreation, exercise, or entertainment; and go shopping, run errands, or conduct other business. In this September’s challenge, over 100 participants competed in four different categories: walking, cycling, busing, and car/vanpooling. 

Prizes will be awarded to the participant logging the most miles in each category during the Live Green Fest in Olmos Basin Park on October 11 from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.  The award ceremony will take place at approximately 10 a.m.  Winners in the 2008 Walk & Roll Personal Challenge are

• Cycling Category—Christopher T. Richtberg logged 677 cycling miles, and will receive a $100 gift card from Performance Bike, courtesy of the Metropolitan Planning Organization’s Bicycle Mobility Advisory Committee.
• Busing Category—Glenda Dean logged 714 busing miles, and will receive five Big Passes from VIA Metropolitan Transit.

• Walking Category - Robert Branch logged 232 walking miles, and will receive a $100 gift card from Academy Sports and Outdoors, courtesy of the Metropolitan Planning Organization's Pedestrian Mobility Advisory Committee.

• Car/Vanpooling Category— Lee Ketchum logged 2,081 car/vanpooling miles, and will receive a $100 gift card from Academy Sports and Outdoors, courtesy of CPS Energy.

“I don't need a prize to know that I am a winner in this challenge,” says Tammy Busby, who placed third in cycling category.  In addition to helping reduce pollution, Tammy cites losing weight, improving her physical fitness, decreasing the stresses associated with driving, and saving gas money as a result of the challenge.  She adds, “This transportation solution might be considered a grueling punishment by someone who's never had the experience of ‘flying a bike,' but I feel honored and privileged that I am smart and strong and stubborn enough to do it. As I say often to my friends at work and school, ‘it's just wrong to have this much fun getting around!’”

The Walk & Roll Challenge is sponsored by the Alamo Area Council of Governments (AACOG) and the San Antonio-Bexar County Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO).  AACOG’s Commute Solutions program offers free commuting services for carpooling, cycling, and schools, such as an internet-based rideshare matching service (www.rcride.com).  Commute Solutions staff are also available for presentations and exhibitions educating the public regarding air quality and transportation issues in the Alamo Region.