June 9, 2004

Smart way to work

Smart Commute participants fuel up on free breakfasts

By Carol South
Herald contributing writer

       Volunteers doled out fried potatoes and scrambled eggs, bagels and orange juice to hungry bikers, carpoolers and walkers Monday morning at the inaugural Smart Commute 2004 Breakfast.
      Organizers estimate that they served 100 people at the F&M Park, with an early rush getting the event off to a good start.
      "It's been steady, starting at 7 a.m. there were a lot of people," said Eric Gerstner of Traverse City, a volunteer cook for the morning and a supporter of green commuting.
      The breakfast kicked off the 10th Annual Smart Commute 2004 Week, sponsored by TART Trails. Each morning this week, a different area business or organization will host a free breakfast for alternative commuters from 7-9 a.m.
      The breakfast schedule for the rest of the Smart Commute 2004 week is:
      - Wednesday, June 9, at the BATA transfer station by the fish weir off Hall Street.
      - Thursday, June 10, at two locations: Munson Medical Center on Sixth Street and Munson Community Health Center on Munson Avenue.
      - Friday, June 11, Mustard's at the corner of State and Cass.
      The week also features the Commuter Cup Challenge, encouraging teams from area businesses or organizations to use alternative transportation. Last year 44 teams participated in the challenge.
      The breakfasts are a popular draw during the week; Tuesday morning's breakfast at Oryana Natural Foods drew 100 people as well.
      "It is a little bribe to get people to think about biking and walking and carpooling, but also if they're making the effort to smart commute into town, this will provide them with breakfast," said Missy Luyk, a trail program specialist for TART. "The idea is they're getting up earlier and maybe they didn't get time to eat."
      Laura Otwell and her family are devoted to alternative means of transportation and a low-impact lifestyle, weaving their lives around these commitments. Her husband, Bob, is executive director of TART Trails. She noted that an important aspect of the Smart Commute breakfasts is socializing with people who care about the same things.
      "Interacting with all these different people is the most fun, hearing the bike stories," Otwell said. "It's fun just being outside and getting to work a different way."
      Marilyn Schneider lives near the F&M Park and works a few blocks away. She biked to her first Smart Commute breakfast Monday before heading to her office, enjoying the good food and company.
      "We usually walk to work and we try to be as green as we can, we recycle and compost," she said.
      Tim Longcor of Traverse City spends an hour a day biking to work throughout the summer. A regular attendee at Smart Commute breakfasts, Longcor lives 6.5 miles from his office, taking about a half-hour each way.
      "Where I live it's bike trail all the way, it's pretty easy," he said.
      The Cherry Capital Cycling Club founded the Bike to Work Week in 1994 to encourage people to try two-wheeled commuting. The idea was modeled on the National Bike to Work Day, scheduled for the third Tuesday in May. However, local organizers moved it to June during more reliably warm weather and expanded it to a week.
      After a few years, the week's scope shifted to also include recreational biking. The focus changed two years ago to smart commuting and the week now celebrates all environmentally friendly methods of transportation.
      "Our goals broadened over the years," said Otwell, a former board member of TART Trails. "Carpooling is such a viable option that would significantly reduce the number of cars on the road. When you look at all the cars that are single occupancy and people complain about congestion, but if each car had two people that would cut it by half."