Walk & Ride Challenge Starts Next Month

Step, step, step. Can you feel it? The annual Walk & Ride Challenge is coming October 14 through November 1.

Each week you’ll be a mere 10,000 steps away from being entered into a random drawing to win e-gift cards.

Here’s how it works:

The Walk & Ride Challenge is always a fun way to get some competition going with your coworkers. And at the conclusion of the three-week event, prizes will be awarded for first, second and third place:

“Hey,” you might be wondering, “what about the ‘ride’ part of Walk & Ride? What’s that all about?”

Glad you asked. The point of the Walk & Ride Challenge isn’t only to help you enjoy all the health benefits that come from walking. It’s also about choosing to get around without a car at least some of the time.

For example, you could ride a Ride On bus, Metrorail, Metrobus or the Bethesda Circulator. Or, you could ride with coworkers in a carpool or vanpool. You could even ride a bike.

And as you walk to and from the bus or the Metro station or the bike rack, be sure to log your steps. (Note: Only log the steps you actually walk. Please refer to the Rules section of the Walk & Ride website.)

Conveniently, the Walk & Ride Challenge happens to coincide with the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) event called Walktober.

What’s Walktober?

It’s a whole month’s worth of events and webinars (MDOT calls them Walkinars) spotlighting Maryland pedestrians' safety, health and walkable commute options.

There are five Walkinars offered for 2024, one every Thursday from 10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. They’re all free, but you’ll need to register for each one separately.

Here’s the Walkinar schedule:

Maryland even devotes a whole day to walking: Walk Maryland Day on October 2. And you’re invited to register as an official Walk Leader or “Sole Mate” to help others get moving.

Questions: Contact Kristen Blackmon at BTS (301-656-0868 x119 or KBlackmon@bethesda.org).

Please take the Car Free Day pledge now, and plan to use an alternative to solo driving on Monday, September 23.

If you do go car free on September 23, be sure to also pledge through Montgomery County Department of Transportation to be eligible for additional prize drawings. The County is accepting retroactive pledges until October 11.

The Big Idea

Car Free Day is a worldwide event that encourages greener methods of travel. In the DMV region, Commuter Connections hosts Car Free Day to emphasize the benefits of options such as transit, bicycling, walking — and simply teleworking from home.

Carpooling and vanpooling count as greener choices, too, since they take some vehicles off the road.

By keeping our cars and trucks sidelined on September 23, we’ll be reducing traffic and dialing down the greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants from vehicle exhaust.

You Could Win

All who take the Car Free Day pledge will be entered into a free raffle for a chance to win one of the following prizes:

Come See Us!

Stop by and say hello to BTS on Car Free Day (Monday, September 23) at the Bethesda Metro Plaza at Wisconsin Avenue and Old Georgetown Road. We will be there from 8 a.m. through 10 a.m. with coffee (ahhh) and donuts (yum), plus other goodies!

Please take the Car Free Day pledge. If you have questions, please contact Kristen Blackmon at BTS (301-656-0868 x119 or KBlackmon@bethesda.org).

Spare yourself the aggravation of trudging through American Legion Bridge backups by boarding the new Fairfax Connector Express Bus (Route 798).

While you enjoy the NYT Wordle or get a jump on your work, you can relax and ride from Tysons Corner to Bethesda and back!

Location alert: Note that its downtown Bethesda stop isn’t inside the Bethesda Metro station bus bay. Rather, the Express Bus will use the existing bus stop at Montgomery Lane and East Lane.

This new route is scheduled to start on September 16. Visit the Fairfax Connector website for details.

BTS Out & About

BTS spoke with over 260 people at National Night Out on August 6! It was great to connect with the larger community.

Look for us at Taste of Bethesda on October 5. Stop by for tasty nuggets of transportation information while you enjoy the popular annual event’s food and entertainment.

Got a lobby in your building? We’d love to be there with our BTS display and info table to assist you and your colleagues or neighbors with transportation dilemmas and put a smile on everyone’s faces with great prizes! Just contact Allison Kemp at BTS (301-656-0868 x121 or AKemp@bethesda.org).