Did you know that transportation causes roughly 17 million pounds of carbon emissions annually in the Pioneer Valley? The Hitchcock Center wishes to help reduce these carbon emissions by inviting our members and participants to consider alternative and clean energy methods for accessing our site and programs -- public transportation, biking, walking, and ridesharing. We know it can be a challenge but if each of us made a stronger effort to reduce our daily, weekly, or monthly car trips, we could significantly reduce the Valley’s carbon footprint while dramatically improving our air quality.

As part of our own commitment to reduce car trips, the Hitchcock Center is excited to partner with RideBuzz.org, a newly emerging nonprofit organization working to build an innovative ride sharing program in the Pioneer Valley. With the release of this spring Community Program Guide, RideBuzz.org will launch a Pilot Rideshare Program to promote ridesharing to our site and programs. I urge you to consider using this service when attending one of our programs. All you need to do is place a request through the website www.RideBuzz.org. This initiative will require a significant user-base to make the program effective over the long-run. In the maturing stages of the program, having enough registered users will help establish the necessary critical mass to create a successful rideshare network. This network will allow for rapid connections to future carpools as easily as dialing a taxi.

Since this is still in its piloting phase, you are encouraged to contact RideBuzz.org Organizer Jeff Brown at (978) 394-3740 or jeff@ridebuzz.org if you have any difficulties using this site or suggestions for improvement. I hope you will support this pilot program as part of a community-wide effort to mainstream the use of rideshares!

With warmest regards,

Julie Johnson
Executive Director

Questions or comments?  E-mail us at hcenter@crocker.com