The Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber and Downtown On the Go honored a variety of downtown businesses for their work in sustainable transportation and commute options by awarding the annual Transportation Innovator Awards.
The awards acknowledge and celebrate work being done that helps meet Downtown On the Go’s goal of reducing the number of single-occupancy vehicles by 11 per cent by 2015. An awards ceremony provided an opportunity to honor the award recipients, hear from local transportation experts working to improve transportation in downtown Tacoma, and learn more about local agencies and their active transportation options and projects in Tacoma.
This year’s Transportation Innovator Awards categories and recipients include:
Live Downtown Program – Awarded to the business or individual who has gone above and beyond in promoting the Live Downtown program to incentivize living close to work. 2013 RECIPIENTS: Julie Swenson at Evergreen Home Loans, Vue 25, and Broadway Center for the Performing Arts for their work in encouraging downtown employees to Live Downtown.
Bold Step/Big Program – Awarded to the business or individual who made a bold change in practice or policy to create opportunities for transportation options. 2013 RECIPIENT: Zipcar for its work in promoting sustainable commute modes through its Tacoma carshare program.
Biking Strong – Awarded to the business or individual who is a leader year-round in promoting, education and encouraging bicycling as a commute mode; and creating opportunities for bicycling through the provision of bike parking for employees and customers, bike infrastructure, or showers. Honoring those who work to make downtown Tacoma more bike-friendly through their business or their work. 2013 RECIPIENT: Rusty George Creative for its work in promoting biking to work and Bike Month 2013.
Advocacy Award – Awarded to the business or individual who has made a difference for downtown Tacoma through transportation advocacy at the local, state or federal level. 2013 RECIPIENT: Karen Bunger for promoting healthy commute options and dedicating time and energy to Downtown On the Go’s mission.
Walk Tacoma Award – 2013 RECIPIENT: South Sound American Heart Association Division for their partnership in promoting healthy transportation options through Walk Tacoma.
Board Member Extraordinaire Award – 2013 RECIPIENT: Patti Sutton at Propel Insurance for more than four years of service and leadership in carrying out Downtown On the Go’s mission.
The awards were presented at a luncheon ceremony on Fri., Oct. 11 at the Pacific Grill Events Center, located at 1530 Pacific Ave., in downtown Tacoma.
Past Transportation Innovator Awards recipients include:
2012
Columbia Bank
HomeStreet Bank
BLRB Architects
GeoEngineers
University of Washington Tacoma
Jennifer Burley, Employee Transportation Coordinator, University of Washington Tacoma
2011
BLRB Architects
Center for Urban Waters / City of Tacoma
US Geological Survey
Propel Insurance
2009
CH2M Hill
Columbia Bank
DaVita, Inc.
Propel Insurance
Regence BlueShield
University of Washington Tacoma
