Friday is casual commute day

Make a plan for Friday to hop a bus, car pool, walk or bike to work and reduce your carbon footprint.

It's the third annual Casual Commute Day sponsored by the Capital Area Transportation Authority.

"Through targeted awareness efforts, our community can make smarter and cleaner transportation choices," said Sandy Draggoo, CATA's executive director.

Register to participate at casualcommute.org and you'll get a Biggby coffee coupon and a chance to win prizes.

Speaking at a Monday morning kickoff event, Draggoo encouraged people to sign up, even if they already are clean commuters.

"You may already be doing it, but we still want to count you," she said. Lansing currently has more registered participants than Grand Rapids or Southeast Michigan, where the Casual Commute also takes place Friday.

Mike Hammond of Potterville usually makes the 14-mile commute to work in during the summer months, but he'll pull out his bike early to participate in Casual Commute Day. Yvonne LeFave, owner of Go Green Trikes, does so every day, even during the winter months, delivering a variety of items around town on human-powered tricycles with an electric assist.

Laura Harris, a Davenport University instructor, will be riding her bike from her DeWitt area home; other Davenport instructors will do the same.

"We're super-excited to do this," she said.

Sign up

Register for Casual Commute Day at casualcommute.org.