Way 2 GO MAINE May 2022

RESULTS FOR 2022 WAY 2 GO MAINE

As we shared, the Way 2 GO MAINE Challenge is now a twice a year event running the months of May and October. We want to make this a time to foster connections within the GO MAINE community, share inspiration, and Celebrate the Great Green Commute with you! Kudos to our recent winners!

  • TEAM SPIRIT AWARD: Maine Medical Center/ Maine Health
  • Week 1: CARPOOL & VANPOOL GIFT CARD: Ramaz M. at University of New England
  • Week 2: TRANSIT GIFT CARD: Deborah G. at Maine Medical Center
  • Week 3: ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION GIFT CARD: Sean K. at City of Portland
  • Week 4: ALL GREEN TRIPS GIFT CARD: Andrew C. at IDEXX
  • NEW MEMBER GIFT CARD: Brendan M. at Allagash Brewing
  • LUMOS BIKE HELMET: Hannah C. at South Portland High School
  • MAINE STATE PARK VEHICLE PASS:
    • Kristin B. at Tyler Technologies
    • Cynthia M. at Coastal Enterprises
    • Mike M. at Bowdoin College
    • Mary M. at Abbott Laboratories

  • NATIONAL PARK ANNUAL PASS: Wyatt D. at Sunday River Resort
  • GRAND PRIZE GIFT CARD: Max S. at Green Gem Farms

FIRST: WHAT THE WAY 2 GO MAINE COMMUTER CHALLENGE IS ALL ABOUT

The first 2022 Way 2 GO MAINE Commuter Challenge will run May 1-31st and is a friendly competition between individuals and workplaces across the state to see how many folks can walk, bike, carpool or vanpool, take the bus or train, or work from home.

It’s a fun and cost-free event that:

  • Builds morale & teamwork
  • Improves health & social connection
  • Engages & rewards employees for commuting another way
  • Shows workplace citizenship & connection with local communities

THE FUN: 2022 LEADERBOARD, RACES & PRIZE QUESTIONS

TEAM SPIRIT RACE

Calling all employers! Lead your employee team to greatness as the folks who post-the-most from May 1-31. Show us how great green commuting can be with your photos, videos and stories – plus #Way2GOMAINE – on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Remember: working from home, walking, bicycling, taking the bus or train, carpooling and vanpooling all count as green commutes!

  • “Team spirit” is determined through GO MAINE staff’s review of social media postings from May 1-31st with #Way2GOMAINE – and other promotional efforts undertaken by each organization – using a points system for number and quality of postings.
  • Results for the Most Team Spirit race are tallied at the end of the challenge.
  • The winning workplace will receive a Way 2 GO MAINE Award and Way 2 GO MAINE social media shout out.
  • Remember to tag with #Way2GOMAINE on all your posts! (Note: If you’re not on social media, just ask a friend, family member or co-worker to post for you – or email GO MAINE and we can.)

$50 GIFT CARD WINNERS EVERY WEEK

Each week in May we’ll reward a different kind of green commute. Any GO MAINE member logging that week’s trip type will automatically be entered to win a $50 gift card. The drawing will be conducted each Sunday and a winner will be chosen every week!

  • Week 1: CARPOOL & VANPOOL week – May 1-7 — Carpool with your spouse, your partner, and/or working age kids. Share your Carpool pics!
  • Week 2: TRANSIT – May 8-14 — It’s transit week! Whether you take local transit or the Amtrak Downeaster, all transit trips count towards this week’s prize.
  • Week 3: ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION (WALKING, BIKING) – May 15-21 — It’s national bicycle week! Try getting to work the human powered way.
  • Week 4: ALL GREEN TRIPS –  May 22-31 — Take any form of green transportation like walking, bicycling, carpool, vanpool, transit, or work from home (telecommute) to work to celebrate the end of the May Way 2 GO MAINE challenge! Plus you can complete your Telework Bingo Card for additional entries.
  • NOTE: Weekly winners will be selected and notified via email. Winners will have 24 hours to respond and accept their prize, after which time a new winner will be selected. All winners agree to allow GO MAINE to use their photo and likeness (name, hometown, and organization) for promotional purposes only.

NEW GO MAINE MEMBERS CAN WIN $100, TOO.

Commuting green? Earn points to win perks year-round as a GO MAINE member, which is always free. Plus, if you sign up during Way 2 GO MAINE 2022 (May 1 – May 31, 2022) you have a chance to win $100! Working from home qualifies, too. Check it out!

  • New members are determined from the list of people who signed up to join the free statewide GO MAINE program during the period of May 1, 2022 through May 31, 2022. Winner will be selected on June 1, 2022.

GRAND PRIZES! ALL MEMBERS LOGGING TRIPS HAVE A SHOT AT WINNING

Log your green trips and be entered to win one of the following prizes.

  • Lumos Bike Helmet
  • 1 of 4 Maine State Park Vehicle Passes
  • National Park Annual Pass
  • $200 gift card

WHAT DOES (AND DOES NOT) QUALIFY AS A GREENER COMMUTE FOR THE WAY 2 GO MAINE CHALLENGE

  • Walking, bicycling, taking the bus or train, carpooling or vanpooling and working from home (telecommuting) are the green commute options we accept.
  • Driving Part Way (yes!): If you have driven part way to work and then walked/biked/bused/trained/carpooled from there, that definitely counts!
  • Carpooling with Another Adult/Driver from Your Household (yes!): If someone carpooled with another adult and/or driver (e.g. a teen driver) who is also a member of their household, that also definitely counts. One less car on the road!
  • Rollerblading & Skateboarding (yes!): If co-workers use an alternate commuting mode like skateboarding or rollerblading to work – they can log their commute under either walk or bike. Whichever they prefer!
  • Working from Home (Telecommuting): Yes this counts!
  • Commuting Outside Maine (check these details to see): the Challenge is open to all folks who are commuting to and/or from the State of Maine. So if you live in New Hampshire but work in Maine that works! Likewise if you live in Maine and work in New Hampshire, that works too!
  • Driving an Electric Vehicle or Very Low Emission Vehicle Such as a Scooter or Motorcycle (sorry, no): Electric cars, scooters and motorcycles sometimes come up as a question. Electric passenger vehicles and ultra low emission vehicles do help with improved air quality and less natural resources extraction. And we definitely recommend carpooling (or cycle-pooling) for these vehicle owners (a win-win!). However, driving alone in an electric vehicle or via scooter or motorcycle still adds to things like traffic congestion, wear & tear on road infrastructure, the demand for more road widening/expansion, and the need for parking (meaning: having to provide land for parking that could have other productive uses instead – even though scooters and motorcycles require smaller parking spaces, it’s true!) So GO MAINE works overall to support a decrease in drive-alone trips in Maine, through walking, bicycling, carpooling and vanpooling, taking the bus or train, and telecommuting.
  • Note about Logging Trips on Holidays: The GO MAINE trip recording system is set up automatically not to record reoccuring trips if they fall on common U.S. holidays, with the assumption that most people will not be working those days. However, many of us do work holidays, so the system has a way to handle that. To remove a holiday or add a day off to your calendar, simply Sign In, go to Trips>Trip Calendar, select the holiday date you would like to make sure you get credit for commuting and choose Remove Holiday. So, for example, if you bike to work every Monday and have set that up as a reoccurring trip in your GO MAINE account – just go to the Trip Calendar and select Indigenous Peoples’ Day and choose Remove Holiday. Similarly you can do the opposite for holidays or days off that are not on the calendar but that you have observed. Just Sign In, go to Trips>Trip Calendar, select the date you took off from your regular commute and choose: Mark as Day Off or Observe Holiday.

MISCELLANEOUS QUESTIONS/CONCERNS

  • Syncing with Strava: For those syncing their Strava data to track their trips: if not all commutes are showing up it may be because the start and end of your trip is fairly close to the same location (by Strava’s standards, not ours!) To make sure your commutes count, you can manually start and end your commute trips in your Strava app.
  • Syncing with Uber/Lyft: Maine does not currently have UberPool or Lyft Line services to enable carpooling with other Uber or Lyft riders – thus there is no option to sync with these via the GO MAINE trip logging system.

AFTER WAY 2 GO MAINE…

STILL HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE WAY 2 GO MAINE CHALLENGE – OR WANT TO TALK THROUGH ANY POSSIBILITIES?

We love to be in touch! Please reach out to the Way 2 GO MAINE Team at rides@gomaine.org

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