Do you carpool with a friend, take the subway or bus to work? Do you walk, bike, or run here? We want to hear your commuting story! There are a thousand ways to get to the BNMC—what’s your mode?
Email us at gobnmc@bnmc-old.local with the following information for a chance to be featured in our upcoming transportation campaign.
Thanks for sharing your story with us! We’ll be in touch soon.
The BNMC is pleased to announce our partnership with Lyft to provide mobility solutions for employees who work on the Medical Campus, including services such as our guaranteed ride home program for employees using alternative transportation. Haven’t used Lyft before? Try it for free with promo code BNMC2017.
The code is only valid for new users and is worth one free ride, up to $10. The coupon will expire 21 days after it’s added to a Lyft account.
While we’re on promo codes, the Reddy Bike fleet will be downsizing for the winter in the next couple of weeks, so if you haven’t had a chance to sign up for your annual pass, there’s still time! Use promo code GOBNMC2017 for a free membership.
Buffalo, N.Y. June 15, 2017 – The Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Inc. (BNMC) and the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority (NFTA) have announced the extension of two current bus routes that will drop and pick up riders directly on the Medical Campus Mondays through Fridays. Some trips for routes #14 Abbott and the #16 South Park, both traveling to and from South Buffalo, Lackawanna, Blasdell and Hamburg, will be extended to Carlton and Ellicott streets in the heart the Medical Campus beginning on June 19th. Both routes currently end at Mohawk and Ellicott Streets in downtown Buffalo.
The extended routes will allow riders from south of the city to access the Medical Campus without transferring to another bus, making the ride more convenient and direct. It will also allow those on and around the Medical Campus to directly access Solar City, ECC South, McKinley Mall and other points south of downtown. Park and ride lots at the beginning of both routes at McKinley Mall and at Erie Community College also offer access and convenience to the Medical Campus for residents in the Southtowns.
According to William Smith, Director of Access for the BNMC, Inc., “By partnering with the NFTA, we are finding new ways to provide more access to the Medical Campus without adding more cars to the neighborhood. This access, coupled with the Corporate Pass Program offered through the NFTA, will help to make the commute to the Medical Campus more convenient, affordable and healthy for all.”
The Corporate Pass Program offers Medical Campus employees, a discounted monthly transit pass for $55, a savings of $20 from NFTA monthly passes. Employees can save even more because the passes are purchased with pre-tax dollar earnings.
Buffalo Common Council President and Ellicott District Common Council Member Darius G. Pridgen commented, “Since transportation can often be an impediment to jobs, we are delighted that commuters will have a more direct and convenient way to access jobs on the Medical Campus as well as to opportunities at Solar City and other employers south of the city. These types of changes can have a big impact of residents’ lives.”
“The NFTA is thrilled to partner with the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus,” said Kimberley A. Minkel, NFTA Executive Director. “We are tremendously proud to be able to support the BNMC by providing this enhanced bus service that will serve employees, patients and visitors of BNMC.”
Through its GOBNMC program, the BNMC works with several transportation partners to develop strategies and programs designed to address the rapid growth of the Medical Campus community and to provide alternative transportation options including transit, bicycling, walking, car share and other programs. For more information regarding these programs go to www.GOBNMC.ORG. The NFTA is proud to provide 8 routes at the BNMC.
About the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Inc.
The Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Inc. (BNMC Inc.) is a self-sustaining social enterprise successfully combining innovation, job creation, and urban revitalization. It serves as the umbrella organization of the anchor institutions that make up the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus located within the 120-acre campus bordering Allentown, the Fruit Belt and Downtown. The BNMC Inc. fosters conversation and collaboration among its member institutions, its partners and the community to address critical issues impacting them, including entrepreneurship, energy, access and transportation, workforce and procurement, neighborhoods, and healthy communities, with the goal of increasing economic development and building a strong community. www.bnmc-old.local.
For more information, contact:
Susan Kirkpatrick, BNMC Inc. skirkpatrick@bnmc-old.local
716.866.8002(m)
Ever wonder what your doctor eats for lunch? If they were one of the 800 professionals attending the CleanMed conference in Minneapolis this year, they probably ate a locally grown organic vegan meal using biodegradable plates and utensils – without thinking twice about missing out on meat and potatoes.
This year two members of the BNMC team, Jonathan McNeice and Beth Machnica, attended the CleanMed conference to advance their efforts in the BNMC Farm To Hospital Initiative. With 1.5 million patients and visitors annually at the Medial Campus each year, and even more coming with the opening of the UB Medical School and Oshei Children’s Hospital, having healthy food options on campus is a must. But CleanMed is about more than healthy food.
If you think about it, large institutions such as hospitals in many communities are the largest provider of healthcare, purchaser of goods, and employer of the local workforce. They also are typically the largest user of chemicals. As Gary Cohen, Co-Founder and President of Healthcare Without Harm stated at the conference, “Healthcare is decreasing its impact on people by making them more sick through the environment. If we embed environmental health into social strategy and healthcare we wouldn’t have disease tribes around the country – learning disability societies, cancer societies, diabetes societies, or constantly talking about ‘the cure,’ instead we’d be talking about prevention. “
With such power to impact the surrounding communities and environment, hospitals are critical players in taking the lead on healing people instead of polluting people. At one of the seminars the BNMC team attended, the speaker referred to “frogs on Prozac” in reference to medications going into the water system since clinical staff were trained to dispose of expired meds that way in the past. It represents the structural issues present in our current system, and is an example of the types of things that need to change. With the United States spending the greatest portion of its money on healthcare, and having the worst health outcomes of the top 50 industrialized countries in the world, we’re not very efficient when it comes to health.
The BNMC team is working on a series of sustainability initiatives on the medical campus – piloting a composting program in the Innovation Center, working on a Farm to Hospital Initiative with Roswell Park Cancer Institute and Kaleida, implementing a Community Supported Agriculture Program with Roswell Park Cancer Institute, and a Farm-to-Work program at the Innovation Center. Stay tuned for additional updates on the blog!
~The 2017 Clean Med conference was the fourteenth convening held in the United States, and the eighteenth held globally. It is an annual conference put on by the nonprofits HealthCare Without Harm and Practice GreenHealth and has an international reputation for being the premier conference on environmental sustainability in the healthcare sector.~
Catching that train to the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus may soon have a silver lining, depending on where you live.
Those who commute to the Medical Campus and are looking to hop the Metro Rail, but live a good distance from it, may get some help to get to the train and back home so they don’t have to drive and search for parking.
The non-profit organization that coordinates transportation and other neighborhood initiatives on the Medical Campus is looking for ways to help smooth the way for would-be train commuters who don’t live close to the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority’s Metro line.
“We’re trying to see if we can implement a shuttle service, bike share or van pool,” said Thea Hassan, BNMC’s newly hired transportation program manager. “It’s being considered.”
It all ties into the organization’s goal to encourage people working and studying on campus – and living near it – to choose healthier options and to help minimize parking crunches on the campus and neighborhood streets.
[Related: Medical Campus hires transportation program manager]
“Our goal is a new way of thinking. Instead of expanding the supply, we’re trying to reduce the demand,” Hassan said of BNMC’s transportation initiatives. “We’re trying to tackle from bottom up, top down, and all of our sides.”
Hassan has dubbed the shuttle idea “First mile, last mile.” The big focus is to help people who live a mile or so away from the Metro line. “How do we get them there and back home?” she said.
No decision has been made, but the organization is working on helping to make it easier for commuters to use the Metro Rail to get to the newly renovated Allen Street Medical Station, which is located inside the University at Buffalo’s new medical school building under construction at Allen and Main streets.
Credit is due to the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus for encouraging employees to use greener and healthier means of getting to and from work by taking advantage of public transportation and pedal power.
It is a good strategy for easing the parking crunch that will only get worse with thousands more workers about to join the workforce. And it will help those employees and medical school students develop lifelong habits that will benefit themselves and the environment.
The grounds of the Medical Campus have been bustling. Gates Vascular Institute and the University at Buffalo’s Clinical and Translational Research Center opened in 2012. Conventus Medical Office Building and Roswell Park Cancer Institute’s Clinical Sciences Center opened within the past year.
The John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital and the University at Buffalo’s Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences are scheduled to open by the end of the year.
Credit is due to the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus for encouraging employees to use greener and healthier means of getting to and from work by taking advantage of public transportation and pedal power.
It is a good strategy for easing the parking crunch that will only get worse with thousands more workers about to join the workforce. And it will help those employees and medical school students develop lifelong habits that will benefit themselves and the environment.
The grounds of the Medical Campus have been bustling. Gates Vascular Institute and the University at Buffalo’s Clinical and Translational Research Center opened in 2012. Conventus Medical Office Building and Roswell Park Cancer Institute’s Clinical Sciences Center opened within the past year.
The John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital and the University at Buffalo’s Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences are scheduled to open by the end of the year.
There will be an astounding number of people in a relatively small space. It would be virtually impossible to create the parking infrastructure that would be needed if everyone drives to work.
Instead, the BNMC is taking a proactive wp-contentroach in getting its expected 15,000 employees to work each day. The nonprofit umbrella organization coordinates transportation and other neighborhood initiatives on the 120-acre Medical Campus.
Officials recently hired a new program manager, Thea Hassan, to work on neighborhood transportation initiatives. Hassan is trying to get folks out into the sunshine and fresh air by persuading them to bicycle to work.
For those concerned about which route to take or who want to brush up on the rules of the road, Hassan is creating the Bike Sherpa. It’s an ingenious buddy system designed to ease the nervousness beginners might feel about a bicycle commute.
GoBike Buffalo and Reddy Bikeshare have been an integral part of the effort to replace pushing the gas pedal with pushing the bike pedals. Reddy Bikeshare had more than a half-dozen rental bikes on campus last year. This year a second station on the Medical Campus is being added, bringing the total to 200 bikes at 35 stations throughout the city. The bikes rent by the hour or through a yearly $55 membership. There will be a free trial membership to encourage employees to bike to work.
The Bike Sherpa service would be available once every few weeks for a limited time and is free and open to Medical Campus employees.
The nonprofit will also work to make it easier for commuters who want to use Metro Rail. The newly renovated Allen-Medical Campus Station is inside UB’s new medical school building, making it very convenient for workers, students and visitors. The Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority is providing even more incentive to take public transportation with a six-month trial of a corporate discount program that could cut the cost of a $75 monthly pass to as low as $38.50 for some bus and rail commuters.
Parking crunches are signs of the growing importance of the Medical Campus. Plans to ease them show forward thinking.
With 2017 upon us, the BNMC is rolling out several exciting tools with employees in mind. The front of these changes is a new GO BNMC website where employees who work on the Medical Campus can learn more about our program that encourages smart and healthy commuting options; get introduced to the carshare and rideshare options and discounts available; and sign up for your parking pass with ease. Let’s celebrate a healthy lifestyle this year, starting with taking a deeper dive into all that the GO BNMC program has to offer!
Buffalo, N.Y., January 22, 2016 – The Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Inc. (BNMC) announced today that it will partner with GObike Buffalo to assist with managing and promoting alternative transportation options for employees and visitors to the growing Medical Campus.
The two not-for-profit organizations have worked together for more than a decade on increasing active living opportunities throughout the City of Buffalo, promoting biking to work, and ensuring infrastructure on the Campus and within the surrounding neighborhoods that support and promote alternative transportation options. The formal partnership marks a more structured arrangement in that GObike will provide specific services and staffing for BNMC that will supplement the significant transportation and planning work currently undertaken by BNMC and its partners. Under the agreement, GObike will conduct in-depth assessments of current commuting choices for participating Medical Campus employers, help implement various strategies and infrastructure improvements to promote alternative transportation modes, and provide educational resources for people working on the Medical Campus who are interested in smarter commuting options.. In addition, GObike will assist in marketing and outreach as well as day-to-day management of the current GO BNMC program, which works to provide employees with better access to healthier, greener and affordable transportation options.
According to William Smith, Director of Access and Planning for BNMC, “As the Medical Campus continues to grow, it is critical to educate our community on alternatives modes of transportation that are more cost effective, better for our environment and that address parking challenges in a dense, urban environment. GObike has a proven track record of supporting alternative modes of transportation including transit, carpooling and walking, as well as biking. We believe that this unique partnership can be a model for other companies seeking to promote alternative modes of commuting, as well as those interested in the overall health and wellbeing of their employees.”
Justin Booth, Executive Director of GObike Buffalo added, “We know that employers can play a significant role in encouraging their employees to consider leaving the one-person, one car model of commuting behind. We are delighted to work more closely with the BNMC to help educate and motivate Medical Campus employees to consider alternative means to get to work that will benefit their health, the environment and to help to ease transportation and parking congestion on campus.”
About the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Inc. (BNMC)
The Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Inc. (BNMC) is a self-sustaining social enterprise successfully combining innovation, job creation, and urban revitalization. It serves as the umbrella organization of the anchor institutions that make up the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus located within the 120-acre campus bordering Allentown, the Fruit Belt and Downtown. The BNMC fosters conversation and collaboration among its member institutions, its partners and the community to address critical issues impacting them, including entrepreneurship, energy, access and transportation, workforce and procurement, neighborhoods, and healthy communities, with the goal of increasing economic development and building a strong community. bnmc-old.local.
About GOBike Buffalo
Through advocacy efforts, infrastructure improvements, and community programs, GObike Buffalo works to create healthy, environmentally sustainable, community friendly options in the greater Buffalo region.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASESeptember 26, 2014
For more information, contact
Kari Bonaro, BNMC, Inc.
716.218.7157/202.904.7034 (m)
kbonaro@bnmc-old.local
Landis+Gyr to Partner with Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus and
National Grid on Energy Modernization Study
Smart grid company to provide technology for energy utilization study
Buffalo, N.Y., September 26 , 2014 – The Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Inc. (BNMC Inc.) announced today that it will partner with National Grid and Landis+Gyr for an energy study that will develop strategies to improve reliability, sustainability, and the quality of energy used on the Medical Campus. Landis+Gyr, a global leader in the smart grid and energy management industry, will provide the critical networking infrastructure, grid sensors, software and services necessary for data collection and analysis. This study and the implementation of its findings is another example of the innovative energy partnership between the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus and National Grid.
Funded by NYSERDA and National Grid, the study will be conducted by Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and will support the continued growth of the Medical Campus and Buffalo Niagara Region by exploring and evaluating distributed and renewable energy sources against the existing distribution system on-and-around the Campus to accomplish targeted grid modernization and to realize grid resiliency. The objectives of the project are to:
Planning for the study has already begun and implementation will likely begin by the end of this month. The program will collect data over the duration of the project, with concurrent analysis and development strategies to be shared throughout. The end result of the study will be key information that will feed into the BNMC’s existing Energy Innovation Plan, and will include the exploration of smart grid, smart metering, micro-grid, utility asset utilization, and renewable energy resources.
The energy partnership between National Grid and the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus is designed to develop integrated solutions that will drive economic growth in the Buffalo Niagara region and position all partners as global energy leaders. This partnership represents the first of its kind energy innovation between a global utility and a community-engaged medical and technology park.
According to Paul Tyno, director of energy initiatives, BNMC, Inc., “Managing energy use on the Medical Campus is a top priority for BNMC, Inc., and this study is critical to develop an energy innovation strategy to address energy needs now and into the future. Our growing campus, particularly our clinical and research facilities, have a need for continuous, high-quality power and we want to be proactive in providing sustainable solutions, whether through modernization of the existing grid or through renewable sources. The addition of Landis+Gyr to our team allows us to leverage their energy expertise and to work with an experienced provider of smart grid solutions that will be a great benefit to us in collecting the necessary data.”
Landis+Gyr Executive Vice President of the Americas, Prasanna Venkatesan added, “We are thrilled to be partnering with innovative, forward-thinking organizations like the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Inc., National Grid, and EPRI. Our smart grid technology and solutions are designed to support the high level of data collection and analysis that this Study requires and will further support more efficient and progressive ways of providing power to the Medical Campus and the surrounding neighborhoods.”
“Adding a technology partner like Landis+Gyr is the next logical step in the overall energy plan we are developing for the campus, and then the region,” said Dennis Elsenbeck, regional executive for National Grid. “The level of data and analysis from this study will allow all the partners to assure we are meeting existing needs, and plan for an energy future that will allow BNMC, its members and its neighbors to be at the leading edge of energy innovation.”
About the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Inc.
The Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Inc. (BNMC, Inc.) is a self-sustaining social enterprise successfully combining innovation, job creation, and urban revitalization. It serves as the umbrella organization of the anchor institutions that make up the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus located within the 120-acre campus bordering Allentown, the Fruit Belt and Downtown. The BNMC Inc. fosters conversation and collaboration among its member institutions, its partners and the community to address critical issues impacting them, including entrepreneurship, energy, access and transportation, workforce and procurement, neighborhoods, and healthy communities, with the goal of increasing economic development and building a strong community. bnmc-old.local
About National Grid
National Grid (LSE: NG; NYSE:NGG) is an electricity and gas company that connects consumers to energy sources through its networks. The company is at the heart of one of the greatest challenges facing our society -to create new, sustainable energy solutions for the future and develop an energy system that underpins economic prosperity in the 21st century. National Grid holds a vital position at the center of the energy system.
In the northeast U.S., we connect more than seven million gas and electric customers to vital energy sources, essential for our modern lifestyles. In Great Britain, we run the gas and electricity systems that our society is built on, delivering gas and electricity across the country.
National Grid delivers electricity to wp-contentroximately 3.3 million customers in Massachusetts, New York and Rhode Island. It is the largest distributor of natural gas in northeastern U.S., serving wp-contentroximately 3.4 million customers in New York, Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
For more information please visit our website: www.nationalgridus.com.
Follow us on Twitter, Watch us on You Tube, Friend us on Facebook, Find our photos on Instagram.
About Landis+Gyr
Landis+Gyr is the leading global provider of integrated energy management products tailored to energy company needs and unique in its ability to deliver true end-to-end advanced metering solutions. Today, the Company offers the broadest portfolio of products and services in the electricity metering industry, and is paving the way for the next generation of smart grid. With annualized sales of more than US$1.5 billion, Landis+Gyr, an independent growth platform of the Toshiba Corporation (TKY:6502) and 40% owned by the Innovation Network Corporation of Japan, operates in 30 countries across five continents, and employs 5,500 people with the sole mission of helping the world manage energy better. More information is available at landisgyr.com.
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Contact:Justin Booth
Executive Director, GObike Buffalo
(716) 220-1454
justin@gobikebuffalo.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
[Buffalo, NY] – On Friday, May 16th at 8:30am Mayor Byron Brown will join GObike Buffalo and the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Inc. (BNMC) at a Bike to Work Day breakfast (927 Washington St) to announce the launch of the city’s development of a Bicycle Master Plan. The Bicycle Master Plan will be a document that will outline a network of bicycle lanes and paths prioritized for investment through community buy-in which will detail Buffalo’s commitment to becoming a premier bicycle friendly city.
In the past, Mayor Brown committed to adding 10 miles of bike lanes a year; a commitment he has honored to its fullest and continues to do so with complete street projects this year including Pearl Street, Niagara Street and Ohio Street among others. When asked why he endorses the Bicycle Master Plan, the mayor commented that, “Making bicycling and walking an integral part of life in Buffalo will not only benefit the city both financially and environmentally but will improve the health of our citizens.”
Businesses will also be pleased with the announcement that more bicycle racks will be available free of charge through the Mayor’s bicycle rack request form. The process is simple and business owners need only to place the request with the city by calling 311 or completing the form, which can be found here: http://www.city-buffalo.com/wp-contentlications/bikestandreq/default.aspx
Justin Booth, Executive Director of GObike Buffalo stated, “Thanks to the city’s consistent efforts, Buffalo has been awarded a Bronze Level Bicycle Friendly City by the League of American Cyclists. This accolade demonstrates the success of Mayor Brown’s commitment of becoming a bicycle friendly city encouraging improved safety and accessibility of bicycling in Buffalo with the goal of being awarded Platinumin the future. The development and implementation of the Bicycle Master Plan will further lead the city toward this goal.”
The Bike to Work Day breakfast will be held at 927 Washington St., the future location of the GO Zone, a new project of the BNMC, Inc. The development of a robust multi-modal transportation and parking system is critically important on the growing, dense, urban Medical Campus. As one of the fastest growing employment centers in WNY and with a projected employee base of 17,000 by 2017, there is a need to ensure ample parking for patients and visitors, while creating sustainable and efficient access and mobility options for employees, partners and neighbors. The latest development is the GO Zone, a transportation resource center and bicycle commuter hub that will be managed by GObike.
“We are proud to have worked with Go Bike Buffalo for a number of years to support their work in improving infrastructure to make our campus and surrounding neighborhoods more bicycle and pedestrian friendly,” said Matthew K. Enstice, president and CEO of the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Inc. “Working with strong community partners like GoBike, Buffalo CarShare, the City and GBNRTC as well as the FTA, NYSERDA and the NYS Department of Transportation, we are creating increased opportunities for alternative transportation on and around the Medical Campus, improving access to job opportunities, and building a healthier community.”
The Bike to Work breakfast was the culmination of the city’s first Bike to Work week challenge, hosted by GObike Buffalo and the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Inc., for employees and residents on and around the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, downtown, the Fruit Belt, Allentown, and Linwood neighborhoods; and Larkinville. Sponsorship was provided by Campus Wheelworks and Mobile Pharmacy Solutions.
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More about GObike Buffalo
Through advocacy efforts, infrastructure improvements and community programs, GObike Buffalo strives to make positive impacts on our environment, community, health and economy by making Buffalo a great place for bicycling. Visit us on the web at GObikeBuffalo.org.
More about Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus
The Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus is a consortium of the region’s premier health care, life sciences research, and medical education institutions, all located on 120 acres in downtown Buffalo, New York. The BNMC is dedicated to the cultivation of a world-class medical campus for clinical care, research, education, and entrepreneurship. BNMC member institutions are the University at Buffalo, Kaleida Health, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute, Buffalo Medical Group, Buffalo Hearing & Speech Center, Olmsted
Center for Sight, Upstate New York Transplant Services, and the Center for Hospice and Palliative Care. The BNMC, Inc. fosters conversation and collaboration among its member institutions, its partners and the community to address critical issues impacting them, including entrepreneurship, energy, access and transportation, workforce and procurement, neighborhoods, and healthy communities, with the goal of increasing economic development and building a strong community. bnmc-old.local
More about the GO Zone
The GO Zone, located directly behind the NFTA Allen/Medical Campus Metro Rail Station on Washington Street, is an under-construction adaptive reuse project that will transform a vacant historic building into an alternative transportation hub. Funded through a cost-sharing agreement with NYSERDA and the FTA, the Go Zone will include an indoor bicycle parking center, a community bike workshop operated by GObike Buffalo, and a transportation resource center where employees and residents can come to learn more about the transportation services and programs available to them. The GO Zone will also be a major Buffalo CarShare and BikeShare hub. Phase 1 of the GO ZONE will open this summer.
The Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus and GObike Buffalo invite you to join the growing number of employees who are going green by riding their bikes to work. Between Monday, May 12th and Friday May 16th, we will host the City’s first annual Bike to Work Challenges!
Whether you’re a seasoned bicyclist or just interested in trying it out, now is the perfect time to hop on your bike, get some fresh air, and join your colleagues in a celebration of all things bicycle!
We have two fun and commitment-free challenges you can participate in for the chance to win some awesome prizes:
Bike to Work Week Challenge: If you bike to work 3 or more days between Monday, May 12th and Friday, May 16th, you’ll be entered in to a raffle for a chance to win a grand prize.
Bike to Work Day Challenge: Not ready yet to bike 3 days? That’s okay! If you bike to work the morning of Friday, May 16th, you’ll be entered into a raffle for a chance to win a separate grand prize.
If you are participating in both Challenges, you’ll be entered in to both Grand Prize Raffles.
There will also be several smaller raffle prizes for Challenge participants. You just need to check-in at the GO Zone @ 927 Washington Street (corner of Carlton and Washington Streets) every morning you bike to work that week, so we know you’re participating! Check-in will only take a few seconds because our staff will be waiting for you!
Schedule of Events
Monday, May 12th – Friday, May 16
Bike to Work Week Challenge
Friday, May 16th
Bike to Work Day Challenge
GO BNMC Bicycle Breakfast
Bicycle Commuting 101 Workshops
GObike will be holding three Q&A sessions and quick commuting workshops to help you prepare for the challenges.
Workshop 1
Workshop 2
Workshop 3
The Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Inc. (BNMC) in partnership with National Grid, was recently awarded $1 million from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) to develop the BNMC Green Commons. The Green Commons, located at 927 -937 Washington Street, will involve the adaptive reuse of three historic buildings located adjacent to the Allen/Medical Campus NFTA Metro Rail Station and the site of the soon to be constructed University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. The buildings will showcase sustainable best practices in land use, energy, and transportation.
“The Green Commons is a manifestation of the programs and partnerships that BNMC has been developing over the past few years around alternative transportation and energy,” said Bill Smith, director of campus access for the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Inc. “Thanks to this generous award from NYSERDA, we will be able to create a unique, highly accessible, and sustainable complex of facilities that provide a number of important services for the campus and community.”
The design and construction of the Commons will follow low-impact development principles, including energy efficiencies, utilizing renewable energy sources, and featuring on-site storm water management.
A major component of the project involves the creation of an Integrated Mobility Hub (“the Hub”) where employees and residents can access and learn about an array of alternative transportation services in a centralized and highly accessible location. The Hub will be home to a large indoor bike parking facility and community bike workshop operated by GObike Buffalo; Buffalo CarShare vehicles and Buffalo BikeShare bicycles; as well as an outreach and education center for the GO Buffalo transportation initiative.
Another large component of the BNMC Green Commons will be Smart Home Buffalo, an initiative of energizeBNMC, a Medical Campus-wide partnership with National Grid, to create a model energy home that demonstrates how to make energy improvements to existing buildings practical and tangible. Visitors will learn about energy creation and delivery, consumption, conservation and what is in store for the future of energy.
“We’ve worked very hard to develop an integrated and innovative energy strategy for the BNMC, and this grant will help all the partners move that strategy along,” said Dennis Elsenbeck, regional executive for National Grid. “National Grid and the BNMC want to take what is learned and implemented on the campus and make it available more broadly. The Green Commons will help the campus meet its long-term energy goals, and will also serve as an education tool and model for the larger community.”
The project will also involve additional commercial and gathering space that will serve both the Campus and surrounding communities.
In addition, the BNMC, Inc. recently wrwp-contented up a mutli-year project with NYSERDA to help promote the use of alternative transportation modes to employees on the Campus. Through cost-shared research agreements from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT), and two separate grants from the Federal Transit Authority (FTA) Job Access-Reverse Commute (JARC) program over the past two years, the BNMC has been able to advance alternative transportation efforts on the l Campus and surrounding neighborhoods. Read the final report.
The new medical building in downtown Buffalo shared by UB and Kaleida Health received two honors at a local construction awards ceremony.
The 11th annual “Brick by Brick” awards, presented by Buffalo Business First, recognized Kaleida’s Gates Vascular Institute and UB’s Clinical and Translational Research Center, which occupy the same footprint at the burgeoning Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus.
The $291-million building, a significant step in UB’s effort to relocate its medical school downtown, won the Golden Brick award, which is essentially the ceremony’s building of the year award.
Kaleida occupies the building’s lower floors, which are dedicated to the surgical and interventional management of cardiac, vascular and neurological conditions, as well as a 16-bed highly specialized intensive care unit and a 62-bed short-stay unit.
UB is using its portion of the building to expand its focus on translating basic medical research into new medical breakthroughs, innovative treatments and new economic opportunities.
The building also took the “Best Green Project” award.
The UB portion was designed to be certified gold under the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program. It has an array of sustainability features that minimize how much energy the building consumes and make use of natural light.
Additionally, the building is located near mass transit systems and is composed of materials from local sources.
UB last year received two “Brick by Brick” awards: one for Barbara and Jack Davis Hall, the new School of Engineering and Applied Sciences building, and the other for the William R. Greiner Residence Hall, a sophomore dormitory.
This year's BNMC Fit event will feature health enhancing activities, raffle prizes and giveaways.
Don't miss this fun event. All BNMC employees and neighboring community members are encouraged to attend.
The purpose of the BNMC Fit event is to motivate, inform, and empower employees by offering knowledge and support of eating healthy, active living, and making small steps towards success in building a healthy future. The event will feature displays and demonstrations related to fun and active exercise options as well as demonstrations related to bike and pedestrian safety and education and transportation demos.
The event is scheduled to between the hours of 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. with an intended audience of 1000 employees from our nine member institutions.
Buffalo Green Projects, LTD brings the Alternative Energy Cruise Night to the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus for the second time this Thursday, May 16 at the 589 Ellicott Street surface lot. All modes of green transportation are encouraged to participate in this fun event showcasing better ways to get around.
A community organization, Buffalo Green Projects, LTD focuses on green initiatives throughout the WNY region. Join Buffalo Green Projects as they welcome car dealers and individual owners as they put their alternative energy vehicles on display.
Not familiar with different types of green transportation options? Attend this event and learn about the difference between electric and hybrid vehicles, and other green transportation options. Check out the cars like the Chevy Volt, Nissan Leaf and a Mercedes Benz that runs on vegetable oil amongst other cars that run on liquids like diesels and flex fuels. NFTA will bring one of the biggest multi-passenger vehicles that help many save money in the hybrid bus.
Ride your bike and park it at one of the bike racks available or drive your traditional gas car so you get out to enjoy music, food and see some of the coolest cars of the future that will most likely become commonplace.
Don’t miss this exciting, innovative and fun green event!
The “Try Transit This Spring” campaign continues as one of many efforts to encourage employees not to drive alone to work on the Medical Campus. The Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Inc. acquired funds totaling $393,432 to produce initiatives and partnerships that promote sustainable access and smart commuting. Various initiatives are underway to increase use of alternative transportation options by employees in order for the 1 million annual patients and visitors to have sufficient parking options.
After well over 200 2-week free transit passes were given to employees on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus for them to try public transit from April 15th-29th, GO BNMC is now offering subsidized 3-month NFTA Metro Rail & Bus passes. Employees on the Medical Campus that do not already commute using alternative transportation can qualify to receive 3 months worth of passes for a total $60 (less than a third of the total cost of riding the Metro Rail & Bus unlimited for those same 3 months).
The free and subsidized passes are just one of the ways GO BNMC is encouraging employees to take alternative modes of transportation. Incentives are offered to all GO BNMC members who commute to work by walking, biking, carpooling, vanpooling or taking the Metro Bus & Rail on a regular basis. Members can win gift certificates to local retail businesses and restaurants, and transit passes that are raffled off monthly.
For employees that live on the outskirts of the city of Buffalo, the NFTA Express Bus picks up and drops off at two designated Park & Ride locations: Route 69E – Alden, Appletree Business Park, 2875 Union Rd., Cheektowaga, NY 14227 and Route 72E – Orchard Park, ECC South Campus, 4041 Southwestern Blvd., Orchard Park, NY 14127. The express routes arrive on the Medical Campus around 6:40 a.m. and depart the Medical Campus around 3:30 p.m. at the Allen/Medical Campus Station.
To provide a peace of mind for employees that commute using an alternative transportation more than twice a week, there is the Guaranteed Ride Home program. The Guaranteed Ride Home program allows each GO BNMC member that signs up to receive 4 vouchers to use to get home (a free taxi ride for up to $60 excluding tip) from the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus. This means that if there isn't a convenient alternative transportation option immediately available, members can simply pull out the wallet-sized voucher and follow the instructions to get home. It's that simple. Each time a voucher is used and turned in to the taxi driver, another will arrive in the mail until all of the 4 vouchers are used.
To learn if you qualify to receive a subsidized Metro Bus & Rail pass or vouchers for the Guaranteed Ride Home program, call 716.566.2316 or e-mail gobnmc@bnmc-old.local. For more about GO BNMC, visit www.gobnmc-old.local.
Follow @GOBNMC on Twitter for more news and updates.
