Perhaps you’re sick of spending an hour’s pay for fuel each day. Or tired of feeling like you’ve run a 10-kilometer race on the hottest day of summer after ascending just one flight of stairs.

From meeting new people to shedding that spare tire to saving wear and tear on your Toyota’s tires, there might be a dozen resounding reasons to leave the car keys on the hook at least once a week.

Carey Kish, manager of the Go Maine commuter program for the Greater Portland Council of Governments, hopes Mainers discover individual motivation.

“It’s a personal thing. If I’m driving 50 miles to work, one way, my idea is that I’m going to beat the daylights out of my car and spend all kinds of money on gas if I don’t find an alternative. Other people live 10 miles from work, enjoy riding their bike and realize that it improves their health if they do it at least a few days out of the week,” Kish said.

Commute Another Way Day celebrates its 10th anniversary on Wednesday, June 9. That promotion, which grew out of the Rideshare program and was launched by bicycle organizations, employers and government agencies in the Portland area, is now a statewide initiative extolling the benefits of biking, walking, carpooling or riding public transportation to work.

Just do it

Five hundred businesses and 5,000 commuters are expected to jump on the bandwagon.

Or hop on the bus. Or squeeze into someone else’s sport utility vehicle.

Those are low, “official” predictions. They don’t account for many who will take advantage of promotions by local bus services.

Citylink of Lewiston-Auburn will offer free, systemwide transportation for the day, according to Marsha Bennett, transit coordinator for Androscoggin Transportation Resource Center.

“So does every person who rides the Citylink bus that day participate? I guess you could say that,” Kish said. “Transit systems are happy to participate, because in the long run it generates more business for them.”

Human resources departments prove equally enthusiastic, and why not?

Get a carload of employees walking or biking instead of fighting the traffic from their bucket seats and sick time and health insurance claims are bound to dwindle.

Cycling even at the pedestrian pace of 10 mph allows a 190-pound person to burn more than 500 calories in an hour. That same individual walking a leisurely 3 mph on hilly terrain uses up 300 calories.

Try it for a week. Those climbs to the second or third floor won’t even make you cough.

“We do it mostly through employers. We don’t take individual registrations. In the end, a lot of employers don’t even tell us they’re participating, and that’s OK too,” Kish said. “We find these promotions have a long-term, cumulative effect at these companies, and that’s what we want. We don’t care so much if they wear the buttons and the T-shirts.

Got a match?

“I hear the anecdotal evidence about Commute Another Way Day every year. People say, Our company does that. We’ve been doing it for five years now.’ I always want to say, Oh, really?'”

OK, so the prospect of pedaling home after a day of mind-numbing meetings isn’t enthralling. You wouldn’t mind, however, finding someone to share driving and expenses.

Maybe you live in Wales, work in Westbrook and wonder if there’s anyone else in that same time and energy-consuming boat.

Kish invites you to www.gomaine.org.

Registration is free. You’ll be asked to fill out your home and work addresses, work schedule and contact information.

Go Maine enters you into its database of names, now about 2,500 after two years of service.

“We produce a complete match list,” Kish said. “You can get into an existing car pool or start a new one in your area.”

The program targets commuters along the Maine Turnpike and Interstate 95 corridor from Kittery to Bar Harbor. Local L-A supporters include The Chamber, Healthy Androscoggin and Geiger Brothers.

With Maine’s population center moving steadily southward, Kish notes that we’re less rural than ever.

“We don’t want to admit it, but we are becoming a more urban area. And in other urban areas such as Boston, Washington, you name it, this kind of thing is a habit. When you go to an employer and are hired for a job, your orientation packet includes a transit pass or (car) pool information,” Kish said.

“It’s a small effect, but we believe it does make an impact on traffic and congestion.”

Could fatten your wallet or reduce your waistline, too.

Kalle Oakes is staff columnist. He may be reached by e-mail at [email protected].