CARING COMMUTES AND SCHOLARSHIPS

I don’t know about you, but 2020 isn’t exactly going according to plan for us.  It seems like every few months another challenge comes along — bigger than the last one!  We’re wondering if locusts are next. 

Yet, in spite of all the challenges facing the U.S. and the TDM industry, we’ve been incredibly inspired by individuals and organizations who have gone above and beyond to help their community.  Today, we wanted to share with you a couple of these actions that we’re proud to have been a part of.

If you’re unfamiliar with Agile Mile, we provide TDM software for state and local governments and we currently serve 20 markets across the United States, ranging from San Antonio, TX to Maine.  Every spring, most of our clients promote fun commuter challenge events like “Drive Less Connecticut,” “Burn Calories, Not Gas”, “Bike Month Challenge,” and more.  Needless to say, once COVID-19 hit, all of these events came to a screeching halt.

However, our clients are agile too, and they quickly shifted gears to launch a new series of events called “Caring Commutes.”  For these events, commuters were asked to record their telecommutes and when a specified goal was reached (e.g., 1,000 telecommutes) a donation would be made to their local food bank.  While the events were relatively simple, they were incredibly effective, since it gave commuters a chance to help their community, while also providing valuable commuting data.  As a matter of fact, the events were so successful that within 4 weeks over 110,000 meals had been donated to food banks across the country.

We’re incredibly proud to have been a part of these wonderful events, and we want to thank our amazing clients who helped make this happen!

The recent protests have helped us recognize that people of color are underrepresented in the TDM industry. To help address this, we launched the Agile Mile scholarship program to support students of color studying urban planning and computer science (we’re geeks, so we had to include a computer science scholarship too :-).   Students can learn more and apply online at agilemile.com/scholarships.  The deadline is July 31st, so please help us spread the word. 

We’re also thrilled to announce that applications will be reviewed by a distinguished selection committee of TDM experts including:

And of course, both scholarships also include an ACT membership to ensure the students get involved!