Shifting Gears

Welcome to the Shifting Gears Workplace Transportation Challenge website. Shifting Gears is an annual, month-long commuter challenge for citizens who work in Peterborough, Ontario.

Every spring, workplaces and individuals in Peterborough participate in the Shifting Gears Workplace Transportation Challenge. Workplaces compete for the Travel-Wise Employer designation, which is awarded to local organizations with the highest numbers of employees who walk, bike, bus or carpool over the one-month period!

Staff members can participate once or challenge themselves to do the entire month! Every time an employee walks, bikes, buses or carpools, they are eligible for great prizes! And they bring their employer one step closer to being a Travel-Wise Employer!

What's New?

Finding Another Gear!
5th Annual Workplace Transportation Program Wraps Up at Downtown Awards Ceremony

Please see final results: business category winners and individual prize winners.

With a record-breaking campaign just completed, the Shifting Gears Workplace Transportation Challenge organizing committee is already looking forward to next year. But first, they took time to party.

The 5th annual Challenge officially wrapped up with an award ceremony at Wildrock Outfitters, on Monday, June 9th at noon.

Mayor Paul Ayotte and newly appointed Chief Medical Officer for Peterborough, Dr. Rosana Pellizzari were among the dignitaries on hand to award prizes to winning workplaces.

Shifting Gears is a month-long competition and campaign created to inspire Peterborough area employers, employees, and individuals to use active modes of commuting, such as walking and biking, as well as public transit and ride sharing. Each time an employee participates; they are entered into a draw for prizes. The more that individual workers take part, the better chance a workplace has to win a "Travel Wise Employer Award." Employer awards are based on workplace size, as well as community leadership.

A highlight of the program is watching participating workplaces slug it out for bragging rights. This year, for instance, upstart Americredit is looking to topple Robinson Place/Ministry of Natural Resources in the Large Employer Category. The final tally may, in fact, surprise the environmental leaders at the MNR.

Also looking to make an impact are the 34 rookies in the Challenge. With Shifting Gears jumping from 20 workplaces last year to 50 this year, there are a number of new companies in the hunt. Among the larger companies joining this year are Pepsi QTG, Ventra Plastics, and The Peterborough Regional Health Centre.

Please see www.peterboroughmoves.com/shiftinggears/standings for a full list of workplaces taking part this year.

Of course, with this increase in participants there is also an increase in results. “This year we saved an incredible 21 000 automobile trips and reduced 23 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions,” says Donald Fraser, Shifting Gears Coordinators. “That represents a lot of people taking a lot of walks, bus rides, bike trips, and carpools.”

Shifting Gears is brought to you by Peterborough Moves, a collection of organizations dedicated to providing Peterborough area citizens with information and tools to engage in walking, biking and ridesharing activities.

Peterborough Moves is coordinated by representatives of the City of Peterborough, The Peterborough County-City Health Unit, Peterborough Green-Up, and Wild Rock Outfitters.

For more information on Shifting Gears or to pre-register for 2009 please contact Donald Fraser at climate@greenup.on.ca.

Check out this year's winners for the different business categories here, and check out the prize winners here.

How to Register a Company/Organization in the Challenge

Once you have workplace approval, sign up here to have your employer added to our workplace list. If you are not sure if your workplace is registered, check the standings; all companies that are registered are listed there.

As An Employee of a Participating Workplace, How Do I Start?

  1. Add your name to your workplace roster by signing in under LOGIN.
  2. Log on at least once a week throughout May and record how you got to work each day in the Weekly Tracker. Employees that don't have regular web access can participate using a commuter log sheet.
  3. Encourage your colleagues to participate! And show us how travel-wise your workplace is!

If your workplace does not sign up, you can still participate as an individual! Click here to sign on!