That's a dedicated winter commuter! Photo: theepicentre.co.uk

From 4x4s to studded bike tires, snowshoes, and a lot of telecommuting I feel very confident in Commuter Central readers - when Snowmaggedon 2011 strikes, you will most certainly be ready!

With no further ado, here are our "Grand Prize" winners:

Debbie N - Who told us she prefers to stay home and telecommute, but when she has to get to the office during the snow, she's looking for someone else to drive.  Smart lady!

Snow won't stop commenter Nhu, who told us she plans to use TriMet or if it gets too crazy out there she'll "strap on the boots and as Bob Marley says 'let my feet be my carriage'"  Bob Marley in snow boots, hmmmm....

Commenter Marlena said she doesn't care if it's snowing, raining, sunning, or anything in between.  She's parking and riding that Green Line MAX train all the way to work.  Kudos for consistency Marlena!

I won't list all 20 Commuter Central readers who won a free download of the Bike Map app - they've all received emails from Steve Jobs himself already!

Stay tuned for the next blog promo where we'll give away more incentives for commuting smart!

As reported by Sara Mirk in the Portland Mercury, a new study from the Political Economy Research Institute found that bicycle and pedestrian projects are larger job generators than road projects of equal project cost.

The author studied projects from the City of Baltimore. Per $1 million of project cost, road projects created 7 jobs while pedestrian projects created 11 jobs. By comparison, bike lane projects leveraged 14 new jobs per $1 million spent.

Why the difference? According to the study, pedestrian and bicycle projects are more labor intensive while road projects are more material intensive.

Photo credit: OregonLive

One of our Safe Routes organizers here is shifting down to part time, so we've got a new part-time opening. Want to join the Safe Routes team?

Portland Bureau of Transportation - Transportation Options - Part-time

The Position: The City of Portland is seeking to hire a part-time Transportation Demand Management Specialist I position for the Safe Routes to School (SR2S) Program. SR2S is a community-based program that works to increase the number of school-aged children walking and biking to school. This position will work with parents, students, school staff and partner organizations in schools throughout Portland to develop and implement encouragement activities, education programs, and special events that promote walking and biking to school. Experience organizing within diverse communities and working with school-aged children is desirable. The ability to speak bilingually is also desirable. Minorities, women, and qualified individuals with disabilities are urged to apply.

Hourly rate: $24.08 at entry to $30.72 after five years

For more information and to apply visit: http://bit.ly/emGIGY

Our Pedestrian Safety classes are in full swing in 40 schools across the city. Here, Safe Routes instructor extraordinaire Carl Larson asks eager students at Rigler where the safest place is to cross the street next to their school.

There's less than a week left of January. Have you started work on activating your New Year's resolutions?

Count me among those who fill the page with resolutions only to recycle the list the following year.  

Listed below are common NYR's themes from my unscientific survey of friends and colleagues along with Commuter Central's suggested solutions:

• Save money According to the American Automobile Association's 2010 Cost of DrivingReport, the average American spent $8,490 in 2010 in driving expenses.* By comparison, an annual All-Zone TriMet pass is $968 and the annual cost of bike ownership is around $500. Walking is practically free.  

• More time with friends.  Not only do you share the cost and hassle of driving, but carpooling is a great way to connect with neighbors and friends.

• Getting healthy.  Physical activity is a key strategy for maintaining good health. The US Surgeon General recommends walking 10,000 steps a day. It's self-evident that those who walk or bike to work are more likely than car commuters to be physically active, but even riding transit provides a big health boost. And unlike going to the gym, you have to go to work. So normalize exercising by choosing the bus, bikes or shoes for your commute.

• Working smarter, not longer.  Those who conduct day planning before or at the beginning of the work day tend to be more productive (at least that's what the Franklin Covey sales rep told me). Carpooling and riding transit provide a great opportunity for planning your work day before you arrive at the office. It works great for me.  In addition, high levels of stress and/or chronic stress negatively impact productivity. Exercise from riding transit, walking or biking reduces your stress, allowing you to arrive to work and home in a positive state of mind.

*Composite cost of driving a mid-size sedan 15,000 miles/year is 56.6 cents/mile. When AAA conducted this study, gas was $2.60/gallon.