What impact does the design on Redmond have on your health?  Can Redmond be better designed to reduce rates of obesity and diabetes? 

‘Designing Healthy Communities’  is a PBS series investigating how municipalities, health care professionals, designers and non profits are working together to transform our communities into places that improve our health.  While Redmond’s local PBS station KCTS has yet to provide an air date, you can check out previews and other clips on their website. 

You can also see what the City is doing to design a healthier Redmond the under the plans and projects tab on Redmond.gov.

Filed under: Bike, Discussion Topics, Walk | No Comments »

All King County and Sound Transit buses are operating on snow routes until further notice. For up to the minute information check out Metro Snow Alerts.    

Rapid Ride B line is also on its snow route, traveling along Bel-Red Road rather than NE 8th, and detouring from 148th north of Redmond Way to Willows Rd to 90th st.  The route follows the dotted line along this route map. 

Due to the conditions, all buses will have chains and are limited to 25 miles per hour, so plan accordingly.  Also due to the snow routing, OneBusAway is very unreliable.

Stay safe, be patient and watch out for snowballs!

Filed under: Bus, Commute News and Alerts | No Comments »

520 or 90?  That is the question.  While not as famous as ‘To be or not to be’, it’s still an incredibly important question to Redmond commuters.  Well luckily there’s a free app for that! 

The developers at 520or90.com have created an app that can tell you how fast both routes will be and how much the tolls and fuel will cost at that moment, helping you make the best choice for your commute.  You can customize the result depending on the type of car and gas you use, presenting a clear picture of the benefits of each route.  

But don’t take our word for it, check out a preview of the app on their website. Also for the more visual of us, have a look at this infographic looking at the first week of tolls on 520.   

Want to save time and money?  Take transit!  First time transit riders can recieve a free 3 month transit pass through R-TRIP.

See the full size here

Filed under: Commute Choices | No Comments »

The word has been on the tip of everyones tongue this week, snow!  Whether you think it’s a good or bad four letter word, we have scoured the internet and rounded up a collection of links to assist you with a safe commute no matter how much snow falls.  
  
Many Radio and TV stations in the area provide regular weather and traffic updates during Seattle snowstorms, and KOMO News on AM 1000 provides some of the most frequent. The City of Redmond provides local updates during severe weather and emergencies on AM 1650 and via RCTV,  channel 21 on Comcast and channel 34 on Frontier, in the Redmond area:
http://redmond.gov/cms/One.aspx?portalId=169&pageId=2700

In addition, the City of Redmond also provides traffic cameras so you can easily view the traffic along your route: http://www.redmond.gov/TrafficCameras/

Metro’s Alerts Center provides event, emergency and weather related alerts. Alerts can be viewed online, or you can sign up to receive them via email, mobile phone and RSS:
http://metro.kingcounty.gov/up/rr/adverseweather.html
http://metro.kingcounty.gov/up/rr/alertscenter.html

Eye on Your Commute blog also provides commute oriented updates every weekday:  http://metrocommute.wordpress.com/

Sound Transit provides rider alerts for all Sound Transit routes. Get signed up now:
http://www.soundtransit.org/Subscribe-to-alerts.xmlAnd

Community Transit riders can sign up for weather-related electronic alerts, sent via email or text when there are re-routes or delays: http://www.commtrans.org/News/RiderAlert.cfm?id=1372

WSDOT provides traffic information and travel alerts: http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/traffic/seattle/
http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/traffic/trafficalerts/PugetSound.aspx
And current weather and forecast information:
http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Traffic/weather/pugetsound.aspx
http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Traffic/forecast/default.aspx

Cliff Mass, Atmospheric Sciences Professor at the UW provides insight on the latest forecast and comments on Puget Sound weather: http://cliffmass.blogspot.com/

And finally, NW Weather collects weather and forecasts data for the Puget Sound Region: http://www.nwweather.net/

Is there a resource that you rely on to help you with your commute?  Let us know in the comments, or send an email to support@gortrip.com with your commute info tip for snowy weather.  

Safe Travels,
–The R-TRIP Team

Filed under: Uncategorized | No Comments »

Join the 2012 Redmond Citizen Academy  

Redmond, WA – The City of Redmond invites community members to participate in the 2012 Redmond Citizen Academy – a series to help participants learn about the day-to-day activities involved in managing and operating Redmond government.

The Academy provides people who live, work, or have an interest in Redmond an annual opportunity to learn more about the City’s services, programs, and long-term plans. It takes place on six Monday evenings, January 23 through March 26, 6:30 to 8:30pm, in the Redmond City Hall Council Chambers, 15670 NE 85th Street. Participants can attend the entire series or only the sessions of most interest.

For each of the six sessions, staff will provide information regarding topics such as public safety, the infrastructure necessary to deliver drinking water, and the process through which improvements to streets and sidewalks are considered and constructed. In addition to these sessions, participants are invited to take part in three tours of Redmond facilities including the Traffic Operations Center, Redmond Teen Center, and Redmond Senior Center.

The Citizen Academy also provides a knowledge base for future civic leadership and volunteering and an opportunity for students to participate in local government. Community members interested in Redmond’s upcoming Budgeting by Priorities process may wish to attend the Redmond Citizen Academy as a precursor to budget involvement.

For more information regarding the Redmond Citizen Academy, visit www.redmond.gov/residents/citizenacademy or contact Kimberly Dietz at 425-556-2415 or kdietz@redmond.gov. Registration is not necessary though contacting Ms. Dietz to indicate interest helps staff prepare for the series.

Filed under: Uncategorized | No Comments »

We have four more winners in the game of R-TRIP Tag! Meet Libby B, Manik R, Glen S, and Brett C.  All won $50 Think Redmond AmEx to spend in Redmond. 

If you haven’t scanned the R-TRIP Tag, do so now. We’ll be drawing the Staycation and Kinnect later this month. Do it now for a chance to win!  

Original  blog post August 11, 2011

Mobile tag, that is. Grab your smartphone, download the free Microsoft tag app, and snap the R-TRIP tag below. First timers to the R-TRIP tag will have the chance to sign up for our monthly tag drawing. The awesome prizes include: Staycation in Redmond with hotel, dinner and movie; Microsoft Kinect; $50 Think Redmond card; or a free Redmond lunch.  All subsequent “snaps” of the tag will quickly lead you to links to R-TRIP’s FB, Twitter, YouTube and Blog. So come on, what do you have to lose….let’s play tag!

Filed under: Uncategorized | No Comments »

Riding the bus at night? Have Metro be your private chauffeur!

While the days are only getting longer for the rest of the winter, Redmond can be very dark in the evenings.  If you’re taking the bus back home from a film at Big Picture, book club at a friends, or classes at Bellevue College, use King County Metro’s Night Stop program to spend less time walking in the dark. 

Between the hours of 8pm and 5am, just ask your driver and they will drop you off anywhere along the bus line, even though it may not be a Metro bus stop.  Just ask the driver a block before you stop and they will stop at the nearest safe location. Learn more at http://metro.kingcounty.gov/tops/bus/nightstop.html

And for an even safer trip, don’t forget your lights, blinkers and reflectors, because it never hurts to look like a character from Tron while walking home!

Filed under: Bus | No Comments »

Redmond residents may have noticed the impromptu holiday promotion on their “Trip Log” recently. Residents who (for their personal trips) walked, biked, bused or coordinated a multi-family carpool five times between Thanksgiving and New Years, would be eligible for a Redmond prize if they won the drawing.  Well, congrats are in order for Eric S, Julianne R, Melissa G, and Lynda F who each won a $20 gift certificate to a Redmond restaurant!

(If you are reading this and wondering what the heck a trip log is…read on. Trip Log’s are accessible only to Redmond residents via their R-TRIP accounts where residents can track personal trips like going to the store, sports, social engagements, etc.)

Filed under: Uncategorized | No Comments »

Congratulations to the 50 Redmond commuters who won the R-TRIP November drawing. Each commuter won $25 Think Redmond dollars by saving a trip and biking, walking, carpooling, vanpooling or taking the bus. 

Filed under: Uncategorized | No Comments »

Is your new years resolution to get in better shape?  Instead of driving to the gym just to hop on a spinning bike, why not save time and money and bike to work? There is a lot more to gain from riding your bike than just getting entered to win an R-TRIP drawing.  It could save you thousands on healthcare costs, gas, and gym membership! 

But don’t take my word for it, the creative people at Healthcare Management Degree have put together a beautiful inforgraphic on the benefits of riding your bicycle. 

Check out the full size at http://www.healthcaremanagementdegree.com/biking-and-health/

Find tips and resources about biking to work by checking out our bike tab! (and you might as well enter that previously mentioned R-TRIP drawing on your MyR-TRIP page, while you’re at it.)

Filed under: Bike, Commute Choices | No Comments »