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INFORMATION UPDATE
August 26, 2025
5:00 PM,
I.Information Update
I.A Carpooling Appreciation Event
Information Only Memo_Carpool Appreciation Event_ 8.26.25.pdf
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INFORMATION ONLY MEMORANDUM
TO: Aspen City Council
FROM: Jimena Baldino, Sustainability Specialist
Reneé Espinoza, Business Support Specialist
THROUGH: Clare McLaughlin, Sustainability Manager
Tessa Schreiner, Environmental Health & Sustainability Manager
Lynn Rumbaugh, Director of Transportation
Blake Fitch, Director of Parking
MEMO DATE: August 18th, 2025
MEETING DATE: August 26th, 2025
RE: Carpooling Appreciation Event
_____________________________________________________________________
PURPOSE: The purpose of this memo is to provide information about the Carpooling
Appreciation event held on Monday, August 4th, 2025, by the Transporation, Parking,
and Environmental Health and Sustainability Departments as part of the City’s Seamos
Sostenible and Commit to Tomorrow sustainability campaigns.
BACKGROUND:
In 2024, the City of Aspen Environmental Health and Sustainability Department
partnered with departments across the City to create and launch the Commit to
Tomorrow (English language) and Seamos Sostenible (Spanish language) sustainability
campaigns.
To develop the campaign, staff conducted interviews and found community members
wanted to learn more about the City’s environmental work and ways they could make a
meaningful impact. In response, the City created the Commit to Tomorrow and Seamos
Sostenible campaigns to share the City’s cross-departmental environmental initiatives
and engage community members with ways to take environmental action both
individually and as a community.
When developing the Spanish language version of the campaign, Seamos Sostenible
para Nuestro Mañana (Seamos Sostenible), bilingual staff determined the campaign
needed to be transcreated – a process that goes beyond direct translation.
Transcreation involves adapting the original message to resonate emotionally and
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culturally with the target audience, ensuring it is not only accurate but also impactful,
accessible, and approachable to our Spanish-speaking community members.
Thus far in 2025, the Commit to Tomorrow and Seamos Sostenible campaigns hosted
12 events, reaching over 2,550 community members, sharing the environmental work
happening across city departments and providing action opportunities for the
community. This included a Seamos Sostenible Bus Rider Appreciation Event, a
predecessor to the Carpool Appreciation event, which celebrated over 200 riders for
doing their part to protect the environment with gratitude, food, and giveaways and
included bilingual engagement.
DISCUSSION:
The latest Seamos Sostenible event was Carpooling Appreciation Day on August 4th,
2025. The City’s Transportation, Parking, and Environmental Health and Sustainability
Departments partnered to recognize people participating in the Brush Creek Park and
Ride Carpool Permit Program. This program provides parking incentives in Aspen for
carpoolers, reducing single-occupancy vehicle trips, and supporting Council’s climate
and traffic reduction goals.
Staff showed appreciation to 236 carpoolers in 119 vehicles by offering empanadas
and sustainable products such as reusable lunch boxes and sandwich bags.
Community members left feeling appreciated, and many thanked the City for hosting the
event. One participant shared, “I've been using the carpool passes for almost 11 years. I
commute with my sister so we can both get to work—thank you for doing this today!"
Stories like these highlight the community impact of such celebrations.
Staff participants of the City’s Bilingual Bonus Program volunteered at the event,
speaking in Spanish with carpoolers, enhancing Spanish-speaking participants'
experience and fostering stronger connections.
This event supports Council's goal to improve traffic flow and congestion relief by
incentivizing and recognizing commuters who help reduce traffic and congestion daily
through their participation in the Brush Creek Park and Ride Carpool Permit Program.
The Commit to Tomorrow and Seamos Sostenible campaigns will continue to work with
other departments across the City to showcase progress and provide ways community
members can get involved in environmental action.
FINANCIAL IMPACTS:
There are no financial impacts.
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ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS:
The Commit to Tomorrow and Seamos Sostenible campaigns encourage, educate, and
activate community members to protect the environment while appreciating their current
efforts.
CITY MANAGER COMMENTS:
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