Smart Commute Week returns to Traverse City for 32nd year

Traverse City is again using Smart Commute Week as a pressure valve for the summer traffic and parking crunch, with free breakfasts, prize points and a weeklong push to get more commuters out of cars before tourism swells the roads.

The 32nd annual event runs June 1-5 and is built around a simple message: walk, bike, blade, carpool or take the bus instead of driving everywhere. TART Trails says the week falls during the first full week of June and includes free daily breakfasts at locations around town, along with the Commuter Cup Challenge, a free public competition that lets teams and solo participants earn points and compete for prizes. Traverse City Tourism says bonus points can also serve as tiebreakers and a chance at additional prizes.

The biggest transit push comes Wednesday, June 3, when the Bay Area Transportation Authority is making all fixed-route service free for Try Transit Day. That includes the City Loop, Village Loop and Bayline, and BATA says it will serve free breakfast and coffee at Hall Street Station from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. The agency operates fixed-route service seven days a week, along with door-to-door on-demand service, giving Grand Traverse County residents more than one option when downtown parking fills up.

For riders looking at the numbers, the Bayline is the clearest case for swapping a solo car trip for transit. BATA says the route is free, runs every 15 to 17 minutes, and covers a six-mile corridor linking downtown Traverse City, Grand Traverse Commons, Northwestern Michigan College and Munson Medical Center. BATA also says Bayline and Loop buses have bicycle racks, and most fixed-route buses can carry up to three bikes, which makes it easier to combine a ride with a walk or bike trip instead of driving the whole way.

The event is not new, and organizers have long pointed to participation as proof that the formula works. A 2019 report said Smart Commute Week served more than 1,500 free breakfasts to 76 teams the year before, and by 2020 the program had been running for at least 25 years. In Grand Traverse County, where summer traffic can turn routine errands into a search for parking, the week remains less a celebration than a practical test of whether a few free rides and a shared challenge can shave time, save money and ease the seasonal squeeze.