Join UB team for Green Your Commute Challenge

Published June 7, 2019

Join the UB team for the Green Your Commute Challenge (GYCC), a summer-long competition between state agencies, local governments and SUNY and CUNY institutions to see whose employees can reduce their institution’s carbon emissions the most by greening their commutes.

Transportation is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in New York, says Matthew Reitmeier, outreach and operations manager for UB Parking and Transportation The goal of the GYCC, he explains, is to lower emissions, show others how easy and fun a green commute can be, and demonstrate UB’s climate leadership to the community.

UB is a two-time winner of the “Most Engaged SUNY Campus” award from the state Department of Environmental Conservation, Reitmeier says, with the most participants of any SUNY institution the past two years. The DEC, the state Department of Transportation, NYSERDA (New York State Energy Research and Development Authority) and 511NY Rideshare are sponsors of GYCC.

To participate in GYCC:

  • Register: Sign up using this registration form and select University at Buffalo as the “agency/school.”
  • Activate: You’ll receive an email from 511NY Rideshare within three days with instructions on how to activate your account.
  • Commute: Use an alternative method to get to work, such as walking, biking, taking public transit, carpooling, driving an electric vehicle or anything else that is not driving alone in a gas-powered vehicle.
  • Track: Starting June 10, begin tracking your green commutes using the 511NY Rideshare Trip Tracker Mobile App or using the web version of the Trip Tracker by logging in and clicking “Trip Tracker” in the navigation bar.

For further information, contact Reitmeier at mcreitme@buffalo.edu or 645-3943. More information, including an updated leaderboard once the event starts, can be found on the GYCC website.