Congratulations to more than 1,400 people from 99 organizations that participated in this year’s Bike Commuter Challenge.
The Challenge — sponsored by Keating Law Offices — is a month-long biking competition where Chicagoland organizations compete to see who can earn the most points by riding their bike for work-related trips. The competition is free and open to the public.
People earn regular points by biking to and from work and bonus points by attending Challenge-related events, like the Celebration Stations and the Bike Commuter Coffee event. People are also encouraged to go multi-modal and can earn one-time bonus points by taking the CTA or the Metra during their commute.
Initially started as a Bike-to-Work Day in the late 1980s, it eventually stretched to a Bike-to-Work-Week and then evolved into the month-long Challenge.
The competition is simple: Individual points are combined into an overall score for the organization, and the organization with the most points at the end of the Challenge wins! Organizations are placed into groups based on the total number of employees and type of business or organization.
Let’s offer a round of applause for winners listed below in each category.
PUBLIC AGENCIES
Fewer than 5 employees: Chicago’s 4th Ward offices with 203 points
5 – 24 employees: Big Marsh Park with 655 points
25 – 99 employees: Chicago office of the Illinois Department of Transportation with 695 points
100 – to 499 employees: City of Chicago Department of Housing & Department of Planning and Development with 1,993 points
500 – 2,499 employees: Metropolitan Water Reclamation District with 3,182 points
2,500 – 4,999 employees: Metra with 739 points
5,000 + employees: Cook County Health Department with 6,271 points.
FOR-PROFIT COMPANIES
Fewer than 5 employees: Gensler with 457 points
5 – 24 employees: Woodhouse Tinucci Architects with 905 points
25 – 99 employees: Krueck Sexton Partners with 2,598 points
100 – to 499 employees: Christoper B. Burke Engineering, Ltd./Mackie/ Spaceco with 2,628 pts
500 – 2,499 employees: Enova with 950 points
5,000 + employees: Northern Trust Sustainability Network with 686 points
NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS
Fewer than 5 employees: Chicago Techies with 57 points
5 – 24 employees: Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance with 59 points
25 – 99 employees: Metropolitan Planning Council with 703 points
100 – to 499 employees: Lincoln Park Zoo with 2,871 points
500 – 2,499 employees: Erie Family Health Centers with 841 points
5,000 + employees: Rush University Medical Center with 6,419 points
EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS
25 – 99 employees: Joyce Kilmer Elementary School with 616 points
500 – 2,499 employees: The School of the Art Institute of Chicago with 547 points
2,500 – 4,999 employees: Loyola Chicago with 2,542 points
5,000 + employees: Northwestern University with 9,259 points
BIKE-RELATED BUSINESSES
5 – 24 employees: Working Bikes with 2,869 points
500 – 2,499 employees: SRAM with 8,702 points
Individuals were also recognized for their efforts with an assortment of raffle prizes that sponsors have donated.
Here are some of the people that came into our office to collect their raffle prizes.
To all who participated: Great work and keep riding!