Active Transportation Flash Mob!

An excited group of in motion staffers and participants using active transportation

On Tuesday (Aug 24^th) Saskatchewan in motion (SIM) staffers met up with an eager group of people power enthusiasts for an active transportation flash mob.

Here we go agian..
It was the second flash mob I was involved with organizing for Sask in motion. We took an entirely different approach with this one, different concept, recruitment plan, filming strategy; the only thing that was similar was location.

We were a modest size group, with a mighty message! One local reporter said that we “were definitely heard”.

After the first Only 15% flash mob was over it was time to brainstorm the next brilliant concept. A bunch of the SIM crew, including myself are really into using “active transportation”, which is scientifically speaking, using human kinetic energy to get yourself where you are trying to go. In short, using people power!

Options
My first choice is my bike, but I’ve also got my long board (which I suck at, but love). The options don’t stop there, rollerblading, skate boarding, running, walking, and scooters are all totally legit options.

Gorilla Style
My co-organizer Julie (@CHABTHOR24) and I decided we would try to use Facebook, twitter and good old fashion flyer circulation to recruit mobbers this time. We set up the Saskatchewan in motion Flash Mobs Facebook group to keep everyone in the loop. We tweeted about it to our followers. Finally we worked up a couple of posters and delivered them to bike shops, skate shops, sports stores, running stores, recreation/community centres, and put them up on any public flyer space we could find!

Flashing Lights
While we planned the route through downtown Regina, we really wanted to make sure everyone was going to be safe. Some might say that what we decided to do would negate our flash mob status, but personally I think it just made us more surprising. We got in touch with some great officers from the Regina City Police Service who arranged to escort our mob safely through our 2km route. We had 2 cars and some of the bike cops as well. The fun and periodic sirens from the lead car made us hard to miss or ignore, it was awesome.

Lets Get Loud
We wore our in motion gear so people would know what we were out there for. Plus, we screamed and cheered “Saskatchewan in motion” & “active transportation”! We made a lot of noise and people downtown on their lunch breaks really couldn’t help but take notice us (Mission Accomplished). We let the media know what we were up to and got some great coverage from them.

We didn’t just choose active transportation because we like it, here are some of our other reasons we wanted to highlight physical activity through active transportation.

Health Benefits

• Lower obesity risks, reduced risk of conditions like heart disease and diabetes, improved fitness, better posture & balance, stronger muscles & bones, stress reduction and better self esteem

Economic Benefits

• No need to fill up gas, reduced insurance costs, leads the way to less roadway costs

Safety

• There is strong evidence to suggest that as the number of people using active transpo increases, the more the risk of injury goes down

Environmental Benefits

• Reduce your environmental footprint significantly! (reduce or eliminate your transportation carbon emissions)

Social Capital

• You’ll be more involved and active within your community, increased opportunity for social interactions.

Fun Facts: A stats Canada study found that 19% of cyclists felt that their commutes are the most pleasant activity of the day, whereas only 2% of drivers felt the same way. (huh…who knew!)

See you on the streets!

Kenji