Warm up the car with a carpool partner!

The following information is from the Parking and Transportation Department at York University in association with the Black Creek Regional Transportation Management Association (BCRTMA).

Winter is a great time to try carpooling. Start the new year off with a clean-air habit and save money, too!

As you may have noticed, most transportation and air-quality outreach efforts tend to focus on smog or ozone, which is of concern primarily in the spring and summer months. But the reality is that air pollution, climate change causing greenhouse gases and traffic congestion concerns aren”t confined to just a season or two – they are year-round challenges.

In case you didn’t know, there is a free ride-matching service to help people driving to York find carpools to York University’s Keele Campus. The University is working with a nonprofit organization to increase and improve transportation options to campus.

Please take a couple minutes and sign up to find someone with whom to carpool. The first 150 people who register through www.blackcreekcarpool.org in January will be entered in a draw for a gift certificate to Mountain Equipment Co-op.

York University is a founding member and partner of the BCRTMA, the first organization of its kind in Ontario. Together with BCRTMA, York is taking serious steps to assist staff, faculty and students in their commute to campus.

The BCRTMA currently provides ride-matching assistance and a Guaranteed Ride Home Program for employees. It is also trying to increase public transit to Keele campus and develop cycling and pedestrian-friendly infrastructure. To check other services the association is developing to benefit York commuters, check the Web site at www.bcrtma.org.