This past fall, students, staff and faculty across the University of Utah committed to changing their travel methods to work and class. Their combined efforts helped improve air quality, contributed to better health, reduced traffic and saved them money on fuel and auto maintenance.

The results were impressive. Between October 1 and November 15 U of U participants logged 28,000 total trips for a total of 419,000 miles via methods other than single-occupancy vehicles. Together they saved a cumulative $200,000, kept 156.6 tons of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and burned an estimated 7.8 million calories.

They did this with 9,184 trips by public transit, 5,121 trips saved by telework, 4,124 trips by bicycle, 2,475 walks, and even 2,386 trips by scooter.

Thank you to all who participated! Your work highlights how we can each contribute to big change by changing small behaviors. We are also extremely grateful for the support and dedication of our partners and sponsors within the campus and city community.

Congratulations, also, to our many prize winners. Our U Clear the Air team was pleased to put some faces to the many change-makers participating in the challenge.

If you weren’t able to participate, you don’t have to wait for the U Clear the Air Challenge to rethink your commute, though. Here are some tips to clear the air year-round:

• Carpooling: Share your ride with coworkers, friends, family or fellow students.  You can use UTAcommuter.com to find a carpool.

• Public Transit: Your UCard or Employee Badge gets you FREE access to UTA buses, TRAX and Frontrunner, making your commute smooth with fewer emissions.

• Active Transportation: Walk, bike or skateboard to campus for a healthy, emission-free commute.

• Trip chaining: Save time, money and emissions by grouping your errands. Instead of going home after work or school first, make stops at the grocery store or other locations to avoid traveling back and forth.

• Skip the trip: Avoid unnecessary trips. For example, bring lunch to avoid driving off campus for your meal, or plan out your meals for the week so you can make just one visit to a store.

• Telecommute: When possible, work or attend class from home to reduce trips to campus entirely.

To learn more about campus transportation options, visit the Commuter Services website.