About 3,000 Ann Arbor area residents have committed to try greening their commute this month in an online competition that pits 250 local companies against each other.

The Commuter Challenge, promoted by the getDowntown Program, kicks off today.

Biking to work is one option during the Commuter Challenge.

downtown bike commuter

For riding a bike, carpooling, taking a motorcycle or riding the bus just once to work, registrants will receive free ice cream from Washtenaw Dairy or a sorbet from Mity Nice. Logging one alternative trip also enters people into the grand prize drawing to win an Amazon Kindle.

“We’re not trying to pit one form of transportation against the other,” said Nancy Shore, director of getDowntown. “We’re just trying to get people to try something different.”

Organizations compete in seven categories according to size of their company and receive incentives for high levels of participation.

“People really like the fun of the organizational competition,” Shore said. “Some people feel like it’s something they can do as a thing that’s positive for their employees.”

Last year, the University of Michigan School of Public Health had 22 percent of its 582 workers participating - for which it won an award, Shore said.

“It was really fun last year,” said Laurie Carpenter, the captain of the team of participants from the School of Public Health. “My colleagues were really interested.”

Though it’s her second year involved in the challenge, alternative transportation is nothing new to the Ann Arbor resident.

Since starting as a project director at the Center for Managing Chronic Disease in 2007, Carpenter said she hasn’t driven a day to work.

“It’s easier to commute by alternative methods than it is to park on campus,” Carpenter said. “It’s nice to walk around town.”

Interest in commuter biking has been noted by the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority.

In 2011, the DDA had double the number of requests for bike racks from businesses than it did in 2010, said Amber Miller, planning and research specialist for the authority.

The Commuter Challenge started in 2005, and had the highest number of participating organizations to date last year with 190, Shore said.

Last May, 1,817 participants in the event were able to save 278,000 pounds of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere by not driving to work at least one day out of the month - the equivalent of the annual emissions of 25 cars, Shore said.

Those interested can sign up at any time during the month of May. Awards will be announced after the first week of June, Shore said.

The website shows users how much carbon dioxide they saved by taking an alternative mode of transportation using a formula from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for exhaust emissions per mile from a typical mid-sized vehicle.

Andy Fowler, lead software developer and partner of Nutshell CRM on Depot Street in Ann Arbor, said all 10 of his employees participate in the commuting challenge.

“The green aspect is big for us,” Fowler said. “It’s a team-building type event - it gets everyone in a fun, competitive spirit with some of the tech companies downtown.”

Nutshell was founded three years ago.

“It’s exciting to grow and be a part of downtown,” Fowler said. “As a downtown company, there’s always a parking issue in Ann Arbor.”