RideAmigos Commute Tracker Launch
Parking and Transportation Services is launching a new commute-tracker platform encouraging the University of Arizona community to try a new mode to campus! Get prizes for using any alternative transportation mode or simply logging your daily drive. The platform goes hand-in-hand with PTS’s mission to maintain the ratio of 1 parking spot for every 3 people on campus.
RideAmigos promotes an environment of alternative modes to improve the quality of life through engagement, less traffic congestion, cleaner air, and a happier and healthier community – and you can get prizes for being a good campus citizen!
A typical passenger vehicle emits about 4.7 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year. This number can vary based on the type of vehicle and how much miles is driven per year. In addition to carbon dioxide being released from car emissions, nitrous oxide and hydrofluorocarbon are also being released in the air. These gases are not as prominent as carbon dioxide but have a higher global warming potential.
What is RideAmigos?
RideAmigos is an online platform that will help you do two things:
Plan your alternative transportation commute (carpooling, biking, walking, bus, streetcar, or Cat Tran). If you drive by yourself, it’s a great way to get connected to others for carpooling or learning about other modes of transportation.
Get prizes! Want a FitBit or Beats headphones? A UA t-shirt or sunglasses? Track your commute to get free stuff from the “Achievement Store.”
How do you use it?
Go to uarizona.rideamigos.com and click “login.”
Use your UA NetID and password to log in (this is only open to the UA student and staff community). You will be taken to the dashboard, where you can enter a starting point and destination to help you plan your commute.
Also on the dashboard, you can “Log Your Trips.” Click on the calendar day you want to log. Then, fill in your trip data: “Departure Time,” when you left home to begin your commute, your “Return Time,” when you start your commute back home, your “One-Way Distance” miles, and your “Mode of Travel.” You can mix and match your travel modes or log one-way trips per mode.
Every trip you take and log in the calendar (even driving by yourself) makes you eligible for free stuff in the “Incentives” tab. Go to the “Available” and “Points Programs” sub-tab to see prize options.
One of the prizes available to you just for signing in to RideAmigos is 5 free Emergency Ride Home vouchers – learn more about the program here https://parking.arizona.edu/campus-services/emergency-ride/.
Did you know?
In 2014, congestion caused 6.9 billion hours of travel delay and 3.1 billion gallons of wasted fuel, equaling a cost of more than $160 billion.
Schrank, D. et al., 2015 – 2015 Urban Mobility Scorecard
Increasing the mode share of all trips made by bicycling and walking from 12% to 15% could lead to fuel savings of 3.8 billion gallons a year and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 33 million tons per year. This is equivalent to replacing 19 million conventional cars with hybrids.
Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, 2008 – Active Transportation for America
More CO2 is emitted by the United States' transportation sector than any other nation's entire economy, except for China.
Greene, D., and Schafer, A., 2003 – in Pedroso, M., 2008, Safe Routes to School: Steps to a Greener Future