Teams who track the most trips per capita win prizes, like a guided tour for 10 people at Airlie Gardens! More info to come!

Individual participants, whether on a team or not, could win prizes in the Commuter Challenge! Categories are:

• Most miles tracked: 1st place and 2nd place
• Most trips tracked: 1st place and 2nd place
• Anyone who logs at least one trip gets entered to win a prize!
• Social media: 2 prizes randomly awarded to individuals who share the Challenge on social media (see FAQ below for guidelines)

Prizes include:

• A facial from Beauty & Bloom
• Tickets to Thalian Hall‘s Main Attraction Series
• General admission passes to Cameron Art Museum
• Gift certificate and gift bag from Flaming Amy’s
• Tickets to the Wilmington Railroad Museum
• Tickets for an Eagle Island cruise from Wilmington Water Tours

Stay tuned, more to come!

The challenge is open to anyone age 16+ who lives or works within the Wilmington urban area, specifically within the planning boundary of the Wilmington Urban Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (WMPO). View the boundary map.

There are several ways to win prizes! There are prizes for individual commuters, and for teams as well.

Are you a local business interested in sponsoring a prize to support the challenge? Email gocoast@wilmingtonnc.gov.

The fine print: One individual prize per winner. If your team wins, you are still eligible for individual prizes as well. So commute your heart out! <3

You can track any alternative transportation trip that replaces a trip that would have otherwise been driving solo: by carpooling, bicycling, walking, using public transportation, or teleworking.

Examples of eligible trips:

• Riding the bus to work instead of driving alone
• Carpooling with friends to a restaurant instead of driving separately
• Walking to lunch instead of driving
• Bicycling with your child to school rather than dropping them off in the car line
• Teleworking (on a day you would have otherwise driven in)

A few extra caveats–

• Carpool rules: Carpoolers can log the same trip if they drove together. Passengers must all be of driving age and the car must remain at its destination (for example, dropping a child off at school would not count as a carpool trip).
• Telework rules: Those who already telework regularly may only count telework trips for days they would have otherwise driven to work alone, if outside of their regular telework schedule. Regularly scheduled telework days are not eligible.

The spirit of the challenge is to reward trips that replace drive-alone trips! Questions about what’s eligible? Email us at gocoast@wilmingtonnc.gov.

Teams consist of a group of coworkers/friends/neighbors from the same employer or organization. Larger employers may choose to participate as teams by department, or by worksite if there are multiple offices/worksites within the WMPO boundary.

Let’s get your employer on board! Contact us if you need help: gocoast@wilmingtonnc.gov. We offer an employer marketing toolkit and everything.

1. Step one is to identify a best contact at your organization. This would be someone who could help us coordinate claiming the team prize if your team wins. (We can also send them your team’s data if your organization would like to provide additional incentives or recognition to star commuters.)
   **There are no costs or obligations on your organization’s part for a team to participate, just making sure contact information is provided to Go Coast Commuter Challenge staff.
2. Step two is to fill out the team registration form (Google Forms link here), to make sure we have that contact info. Teams who don’t fill out this form are not eligible to claim any prizes.
3. Step three is to rally your coworkers/friends/neighbors and track your trips! Everyone should indicate the same team when they track trips. Use our marketing toolkit to recruit folks for your team!

Use our trip tracking form, which opens October 5. Enter the required information and any optional info you would like.

If you’re tracking on a team, don’t forget to register your team first.

Yes! We welcome participants to share about the Commuter Challenge on social media! Two prizes will be awarded to randomly selected sharers. The rules:

• Eligible platforms: Facebook, Instagram, and/or LinkedIn
• Share one of our 2026 Commuter Challenge posts, or make your own post showing off your alternative commute during the challenge.
• Posts must be public. Stories are not eligible.
• Tag us – @wilmingtonmpo and @gocoastnc on Facebook and Instagram, Wilmington Urban Area Metropolitan Planning Organization on LinkedIn
• Use the hashtag #GoCoastCommutes
• Posts must be made between September 28 and October 18, 2026, and stay publicly available through October 20.

Make sure your DMs are open so we can message you if you win! We really appreciate the signal boost and thank all who participate and share.

You’re in the right place! Go Coast can help you with your options. If you need directions for taking the bus or going by bike, we can help! Fill out our Personalized Commuter Plan request form for free step-by-step, turn-by-turn directions via email.

We’re also available to answer any questions by emailing gocoast@wilmingtonnc.gov or calling (910) 341-4661.

Go Coast works with employers too! If you’re looking to get a carpool program rolling at your work place, are interested in free transit passes as a commuter benefit, or are curious about other commuting solutions, reach out!