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About Us
Sharing Information
Community Education & Access
Employer Services
Professional Trainings
Have an idea? Want more info?
Who's Involved?
Way2Go, a program of the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County, helps people consider the many different ways to get around, overcome transportation barriers, and make transportation choices that:
- Save money
- Support health and well-being
- Lessen pollution and climate change
- Promote a strong, equitable community
Through this website, educational programs, transportation dialog and collaborative projects, Way2Go helps people take charge of transportation in their lives and communities.
People need transportation to meet basic needs and take charge of their lives. Communities need transportation that supports collective health and wellbeing. Many people across Tompkins County see this need for clean, green, affordable and accessible transportation for all, and are working on creative solutions.
Way2Go is designed to help fill a vital role in making such a vision a reality: community education and empowerment. Way2Go exists to:
- Provide information and spread awareness around current transportation options and resources
- Encourage transportation choices that best support individual, community and environmental well-being
- Help improve transportation systems and services through dialog among transportation users, providers, planners and advocates
Take Charge: Events and Opportunities has current offerings, evolving projects, and ways you can help shape Way2Go and community transportation. Please Talk to Us about your own ideas, projects and interests.
Sharing information
Way2Go serves as a hub of transportation information and dialog, to help people take charge of their transportation, individually and in the community, via:
- A website for learning about and comparing different ways to get around
- Information provided by phone or mail upon request
- Public and customized workshops on transportation that costs less, is more 'green,' boosts health and well-being, and supports community mobility
- Collection and sharing of transportation stories, feedback and tips
- Participating in and initiating transportation-related community gatherings and communications
Community education & access
Transportation looks different for people in different places and situations. Therefore, Way2Go is working on and interested in projects based on where people live, work or gather.
We seek to work with existing networks, leaders and projects to increase transportation access and education in urban, suburban and rural communities. How We Work and Why has more on a "Community Based Social Marketing" approach.
Some of our efforts include:
- Transportation education and social marketing in targeted rural areas, beginning with the Enfield area in cooperation with local leaders, the Enfield school Transportation Liaison, coordinators of the new CityVan and Vanpool services, and others
- Collaborative education outreach with other community education programs, such as Urban 4-H in West Village Apartments, and research into the trial placement of Ithaca Carshare cars in or near more lower-income housing clusters or developments
- Education and support for school staff and families through Transportation Liaisons in each of the Ithaca City School District schools, and additional projects of the ICSD Transportation Equity Working Group
- Creation of a user-friendly, custom-designed ride-matching/ridesharing website for Tompkins County, a project of the Ithaca-Tompkins County Transportation Council (ITCTC) and the Rideshare Working Group
Employer services
Way2Go has a growing employer services program, to assist employers and businesses in attracting and retaining customers and satisfied, productive employees. Way2Go offers information to both employers and employees on:
- How sustainable transportation can be good business
- Commuter options, including ridesharing, vanpooling, active transportation, flexible scheduling and teleworking
- A range of employer options and opportunities to save money and support win-win commuter options, including taking advantage of commuter tax incentives
Professional trainings
Way2Go provides comprehensive transportation information kits (the 'Transportfolio') to staff of human service and community development agencies, or others who provide transportation information or coaching in the community.
See Take Charge: Events and Opportunities for upcoming professional trainings, or contact us to Request Materials or a Workshop.
Have an idea? Want more information?
For more on what we offer or to explore how we might be able to work together, contact us at 607-272-2292, staff@way2go.org, or visit our Contact Us page.
Who's involved?
Tompkins County
Way2Go, originally known as RideWise, was created to help meet Tompkins County’s goals of increasing transportation equity and sustainability. The project is funded through Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Job Access and Reverse Commute (JARC) grant money administered by Chief Transportation Planner Dwight Mengel of the Tompkins County Department of Social Services.
Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County
Tompkins County chose Cooperative Extension (CCE-Tompkins) to develop and implement a transportation education program. The mission of CCE-Tompkins is "to strengthen youth, adults, families and communities through learning partnerships that put knowledge to work." Way2Go is within the Environmental Issues program area at CCE-Tompkins, with connections to other program areas such as Consumer Education and Community Development.
Community Voices
Way2Go is shaped by both formal research and input from across the community. Way2Go was assisted in its first year of program development by a diverse Community Team of 17 people from nine community organizations, including the Greater Ithaca Activities Center (GIAC), Finger Lakes Independence Center (FLIC), Lifelong, the Natural Leaders Initiative, and Tompkins Community Action. Special thanks to community volunteer Wayne Gooden for his ongoing assistance.
Way2Go is envisioned as a community resource strengthened by community involvement. We invite you to share your questions, projects and ideas with us, contact us at staff@way2go.org or 607-272-2292, and check out more ways to " take charge" of your transportation with Way2Go.
Program Staff
Way2Go is comprised of 4 staff members:
Sharon Anderson is the Environment Program Leader for Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County. She supervises and supports the Way2Go staff and assists with special projects. Other areas of her focus include the Cayuga Inlet Hydrilla Taskforce, Building Bridges and energy issues, especially Marcellus Shale gas drilling and energy efficiency.
Ray Weaver is the Program Educator for the Way2Go program, focusing on Senior Driver Retirement and Employer Education programs. He has helped local businesses change the way that they think about their employees commuting to work in a number of ways. For example, Tompkins County Mental Health has dedicated a room for employees to store their bicycles during the day, TC Workforce displays a bulletin board with transportation information, and Cayuga Medical Center promotes the use of ridesharing and TCAT through a similar display. The Senior Driver Retirement workshop has been held at Lifelong Learning, McGraw House, Titus Towers, Juniper Manor and more, reaching more than 100 older adults in Tompkins County.
Chrisophia Somerfeldt launched Way2Go and is a Program Educator who works with helping professionals, in school communities, and on other collaborative projects. She leads the Faster & Farther network of transportation professionals, and is coordinating a research and development project to explore new models of meeting transportation needs in Tompkins County.
Ben Ortiz is Way2Go's Web Media Educator & Marketing Assistant. He has been with the program since 2011 and works with the rest of the staff to develop useful and informative web content and advertising. Ben is also the primary administrator of Way2Go's social media accounts.
