Car-Less Challenge Re-Launched

The sweltering heat and the promise of cold, but rapidly melting Ashley’s Ice cream were more than enough incentive to get people to stop and listen to a short, but sweet pitch to sign up for Go New Haven Go’s month-long car-free challenge.

That challenge — Go New Haven Go’s 2016 CarFree Challenge — kicks off in September. The goal is to get people out of their cars. The alternative-transportation program wants people to walk, bike, skateboard, scooter and bus around town instead.

Krysia Solheim, program manager for Go New Haven Go, furiously dipped up scoops of Ashley’s Oreo ice cream in front of Trailblazer on Elm Street before it turned into a milkshake. She did so while she told people about the all the prizes and discounts they could potentially earn if during the month of September they eschew their cars and track their trips through NuRide, an application and rewards program that incentives the use of alternative transit.

The free ice cream giveaway was held Thursday afternoon in celebration of local businesses like Trailblazer/Denali and Ashley’s Ice Cream that are supporting this year’s challenge. Both companies practice what they preach when it comes to alternative transportation. Gift certificates to the activewear stores in the Broadway District and an ice cream party are among the prizes that people can win for participating in the transit challenge, which officially starts Sept. 1.

Solheim said the idea behind the challenge is to incentivize people testing out life without a car for a month with the hopes that they might like it so much that they decide to continue beyond the challenge or at least realize that they can drive a lot less.

Driving less is good not only for one’s health, but also for the environment and apparently for business, according to city transit chief Doug Hausladen.

“A lot of people talk to me all day about [car] parking, but a thing that has been happening a lot lately is that people have been asking for bike parking,” he said. ​“Customers that are biking and walking and are transit customers spend more in local businesses than those who drive. The dollar circulates .6 times before leaving the economy in a car-based culture; it will circulate 1.6 times in a [bike/pedestrian] culture.”

This is the third year of the Go New Haven Go challenge, and participation has continued to grow. Last year’s challenge drew nearly 500 participants.

As people tried to keep their ice cream from dripping down their arms, Hausladen thanked all of the local businesses that are participating in this year’s challenge.

“It’s too hot to say anything else,” he said.