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Commuter FAQQ. Who sponsors the Wheel Options campaign? A. The Wheel Options promotion is held by the Washington State Ridesharing Organization, a non-profit organization for individuals dedicated to encouraging policy makers, employers, and commuters to support the use of alternative transportation modes to reduce air pollution, traffic congestion, and energy consumption throughout Washington State and the Northwest. More information on WSRO can be found at www.wsro.net. Q. What is the purpose of the Wheel Options campaigns? A. The Wheel Options campaigns are to reward commuters who are currently using an alternative to drive-alone commuting, entice previous commuters back into their non-drive alone habits, and encourage new users of alternative commutes. It is our belief that commuters sometimes need encouragement to start using an alternative to drive-alone commuting, as well as reinforcement that their use of a high-occupancy or non-motorized commute matters in the overall health of our transportation system in Washington State. Q. What are the prize eligibility requirements? A. To be eligible for a Wheel Options prize drawing, participants must:
Q. I work at an employer and/or worksite not listed. How do I enter? A. Choose "Not applicable" from the very top of the employer list or "other" from the very bottom of the employer list. Q. What is included in the Grand Prize? A. The grand prize winner will receive a Vacation to Paris - Rick Steves Best of Paris in 7 Day Tour, which includes:
Q. How do I claim my prize if I am a winner? A. Your jurisdiction representative will contact your employee transportation coordinator to arrange for the delivery of your prize. If you do not have an employee transportation coordinator, then your jurisdiction representative will contact you directly. Q. Are there any tax consequences for being a prize winner? A. WSRO will comply with the IRS reporting requirements for prize winners. According to the 2008 IRS instructions, a Form 1099-MISC is required for any person receiving over $600 in prizes and awards. For those prizes where there is an issue of what the actual worth of the prize is, the IRS regulations defining the fair market value of a prize will determine whether or not a 1099-MISC is filed. Recipients of prizes qualifying for a 1099-MISC must agree to provide the information necessary for the 1099-MISC in order to receive their prize; they should expect to receive their forms in time to file their appropriate tax returns. For prizes worth less than $600, it is the recipient’s responsibility to comply with all relevant IRS income reporting guidelines. Q. If I’ve previously won a prize, am I eligible for this drawing as well? A. Yes. There are no restrictions on winners from previous campaigns registering and winning prizes in this campaign, provided they meet the eligibility requirements listed above. Q. Do any of the sponsors receive my contact information? Will WSRO use my information for any other purpose? A. Absolutely not. WSRO will not sell, distribute, or otherwise disseminate your information to any third party. Information given by participants, both contact information and commuting information, will be kept confidential. Q. What if I am driving a hybrid vehicle? A. If there is more than one person in the car for the commute, then the hybrid vehicle may count as a carpool. Driving alone in a hybrid vehicle may reduce fuel usage and emissions, but does not reduce traffic congestion. Therefore, WSRO does not make hybrid use alone eligible for the prize drawing. Q. Why are motorcycles not included as an alternative mode? A. There are a number of reasons for this. First, one of the points of the campaign is to show options that allow for ridesharing. A motorcycle can qualify as a carpool if more than one person is riding the same cycle. A second goal of the campaign is to encourage commuting methods that increase roadway capacity. Even given the relative size of a motorcycle to a car, there is still an issue of the number of vehicles using our state’s roadways. We believe that the best way to encourage people to use fewer vehicles overall is to encourage methods that promote personal or community connections, such as carpooling, biking, or riding the bus or train. Third, the Wheel Options promotion has been created in large part to support Commute Trip Reduction (CTR) Law affected employers and worksites and so the Wheel Options eligibility guidelines and definitions mirror those of the CTR Law. The CTR views a motorcyle as a single-occupant vehicle unless it is transporting more than one person; then it is viewed as a carpool. Q. What if I use a scooter to get to work? A. Power-assisted bicycles qualify as a bicycle towards this prize drawing. Motorized scooters of any type, whether meeting license requirements or not, count towards the campaign only when more than one person is sharing the commute, for the same reasons as listed above for motorcycles. Q. Are there other types of foot-powered commuting that are eligible under the “walking” category? A. Yes, as long as it is a method of transportation where the foot is in contact with the ground, it is eligible in the “walking” category. This would therefore include skateboards, jogging, rollerblading, and non-motorized scooters. Q. How do I record my commuting behavior when I use more than one commute mode each day? A. You should indicate the commute mode used for the longest distance of your commute. If you use two or more commute modes for the same distance of your commute trip (for example, you bike 5 miles then ride the bus for 5 miles) you may select one of the commute modes one day and the other the next day (for example, select bike one day and bus the next day). Q. How do I record my commuting behavior when I have an alternative working schedule? A. There is an option on the entry form for “Work at Home” for telework situations. There is also an option for “Compressed Work Day”. Use this option on your flex day off to indicate the commute not taken. Q. Do I have to record my commuting behavior all at one time, or can I use the entry form more than once? A. In response to requests, the Wheel Options website has been upgraded and improved. Participants can now create permanent records for themselves and access them repeatedly to record their commute trips during Wheel Options campaigns. Please note: accessing your record multiple times does not increase your chances of winning a prize! It simply provides us with more accurate commute data. Here's how to access the entry form:
To edit your personal information during this campaign or future campaigns:
Q: What is the deadline for entering my electronic entry? A. All electronic entries are due from participants by March 28. Q. When must I turn in my paper entry? A. Paper entries are handled differently at different worksites. Contact your worksite’s ETC to find out your worksite's deadline. Q: When is the prize drawing? A: The prize drawing will be held April 10th and winners names will be posted to the website on Friday, April 11th. Q. I was on vacation and therefore did not commute. Can I still enter? A. No. However, if you were on vacation for only part of the contest period, your commute is eligible for the time period that you were working. Q. How did you calculate how much pollution I prevented and how much money I saved by participating in Wheel Options? A. We used the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Emissions Facts (PDF 120K) to calculate the average emissions and fuel consumtion for passenger cars. The document also contains statistics for SUVs and light trucks which generally consume more fuel than passenger cars. We used AAA statistics on average gas prices in Washington State to calculate money saved. For spring, we used $3.17 a gallon; we will probably be increasing that amount for the fall promotion! Here are the actual calculations:
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