The challenge is on.

Three local families have agreed to drive less, commute smarter, and consolidate their car trips in a weeklong gas-saving experiment.

The Jordan’s are a three-car family in Oregon City.

Reporters Blog

They’ve accepted the challenge from area agencies and cycling advocates.

Gretchen, the mom, will try to commute regularly ona bike for the first time in her life.

“I'm always up for a challenge, I think it would be fun to see ways we could save time and money.”

TriMet came to the Jordans’ house and showed Gretchen how to load her bike on a transit bus rack in case she gets exhausted.

A Metro employee showed up at the house in full cycling gear, giving Gretchen riding tips.

A coordinator with the “Drive Less Save More” program explained to the family how much money they’ve been wasting on gas.

With help from a multi-agency team, the group studied the family’s habits and figured out Bill, the dad, commutes 53 miles a day while Gretchen and daughter Jackie have been using separate cars during similar work commutes.

“You would be saving -just in carpooling together- five dollars and 23 cents a day,” explained Kelly Stoner, the Drive Less Save More program coordinator.

As part of the challenge, Gretchen and Jackie will share the same car, freeing up the fuel efficient Honda for Bill who will save 13 dollars a week leaving his diesel-powered Ford F-250 at home.

All this strategizing could save the family between 20 to 40 bucks a week -or more- depending on all the measures taken.

TriMet even provided transit passes to encourage the Jordan's.

Bill is ready to take the challenge after months of frustrating gasoline expenses.

“I fill up that truck and it's a hundred dollars to fill up it up!”

So the challenge is on.

Everyone in the Jordan family says they are committed to driving less and saving more.

Experts will now train and debrief two more local families.

The drive-less challenge begins June 18th.