Edgerly’s goal is to prevent people from driving solo in their vehicles.
“If people haven’t tried clean commuting already, we’re encouraging them to try it this week,” Edgerly said.

“That includes bussing, carpooling, vanpooling, biking, walking, heck — skateboarding, rollerblading. Anything’s better than driving alone.”

MSU, Lansing Community College, Thomas M. Cooley Law School and other college campuses across the state were invited to participate in the challenge, Edgerly said. Students can go online to log in every clean commute they take during the day — from walking between classes to bus rides back to the dorms. For each commute a person logs, they’ll receive a Biggby Coffee coupon and be entered to win prizes including gas cards, free bus passes and bike coupons, Edgerly said.

Finance graduate student Drew Mendrygal said he thinks the challenge is a good idea. Living in Owen Graduate Hall, he typically walks everywhere on campus, he said.

“Whenever we drive somewhere, we carpool,” Mendrygal said. “Part of it’s convenience, and it saves money — not having to pay as much for gas and parking depending on where you go.”

MSU won the challenge last year, with several hundred people logging their commutes in the challenge, Edgerly said.

“We always get a positive response from the challenge,” Edgerly said. “Some people who might already be doing this are excited to get rewards. We also get new people who try (clean commuting) and start doing it year-round.”

CATA CEO Sandy Draggoo said CATA has been committed to the environment for years. Every new bus the company buys is a hybrid bus, and the business also puts efforts toward recycling and coordinating carpooling and vanpooling in the Lansing area, she said.

“We’re looking for people to change something in their behavior to make the world a little cleaner,” Draggoo said, adding that CATA buses provided more than 11 million rides last year.

Edgerly said the Clean Commute Options program was started to help decrease ground-level ozone emissions. It matches people up with carpooling, vanpooling or biking buddies or finds a bus option that works for them, she said.

“It’s a free program and service we do for anyone who commutes into this area, no matter where they’re coming from in the state,” Edgerly said.

The program was launched in 2006 and has seen a steady growth in participants, Edgerly said, with more than 1,500 people currently registered.

“It continues to grow even though gas prices have gone down since then, when they were more than $4 a gallon sometimes,” Edgerly said.

For more information, visit cata.org/commutechallenge.