Metro Area Employers Challenged To 'Go-Tober'

By Joel Hillan

LAFAYETTE, Colo. (CBS4) - Local businesses are competing head-to-head to take more cars off the road. The non-profit "Imagine" in Lafayette tops the leaderboard.

"I take the bus in the afternoon two days a week usually," said Dawn Dieffenbaugh.

When she's not taking the bus, Dawn carpools with Wendy Breitenfeld who does payroll at Imagine.

"Dawn and I have been carpooling for 8 years," said Breitenfeld.

She said that during that time the two have become good friends, "It's been a real nice benefit of sharing the ride."

The two also share a love for dogs. In fact, Wendy has two dogs that she drops off at a doggie daycare on the way to work.

"The Great Pyrenees looks for me, she knows my house by now," said Dieffenbaugh.

Karen Kails is the Director of Human Resources.

She's seen the benefits first-hand and pushed for their company to participate in "Way-to-go's Go-Tober Campaign."

"We've had a lot of employees getting together for carpools that don't normally socialize together outside of work," said Kails.

So what is Go-Tober?

Winna MacLaren with the Denver Regional Council of Governments explains, "It's a month-long competition where we challenge employers throughout the metro region to motivate as many employees as possible to ditch driving alone and try a new commute."

So far, Imagine has logged 1,000 such trips taking 10,000 vehicle miles off the road, all while building better relationships inside and out of work.

LINK: Way To Go

Joel Hillan anchors CBS4 This Morning on weekends as well as reports stories for CBS4 News at 5 and 6 p.m. Follow Joel on Twitter @joelhillan.