TravelWise In Action
Ridesharing/Carpooling
Novell - Provo, Utah
Novell's vanpooling program includes 9 UTA vans carrying 10% of their workforce from areas in both Salt Lake County and Utah County. Enrollment has tripled in the past year and employee morale and retention have improved since its initiation.
Source: Human Resource Department, Novell
Walt Disney Company - Southern California
Currently, about one-third of employees participate regularly in Disney's comprehensive Travel Demand Management program, which includes ridesharing. Some of the benefits Disney has realized from this program include:
- Reduction in size of parking structure due to level of rideshare participation. ($2M in savings)
- Significant cost savings of $200,000+ by hiring outside consultants to provide commuting data in development planning.
- Competitiveness in hiring.
- Promotion of the company as environmentally aware.
Source: ACT USA and Linda Ballew, Manager Corporate Commuter Transportation, Walt Disney Company
Cornell University - Ithaca, New York
Cornell has a campus population of about 30,000, with about 9,000 of that being faculty and staff. With only 10,000 parking spaces on campus, the University decided against building more parking to keep up with projected demand and instead to offer a carpool incentive program to limit single-occupant vehicles on campus. Parking fees were increased to create a disincentive to drive alone. Carpool parking permits are heavily subsidized by the University and under certain conditions, carpools are eligible for a cash rebate on an annual basis.
Currently, Cornell has 1,370 people participating in 625 carpools with an average vehicle occupancy of 2.2 people. In addition, the University offers parking coupons for the occasional days when a carpooler needs to bring their own car to campus.
After the first 10 years of the program, Cornell estimates that its net savings were approximately $36 million, mostly from eliminating the need to provide additional parking. Through the carpool program and other commuter benefits the university provides, Cornell has reduced the number of cars coming to campus each day by 2,400 vehicles. The university estimates that they have reduced commuter miles by 10 million annually.
Source: Best Workplaces for Commuters, Carpool Incentive Programs: Implementing Commuter Benefits as One of the Nation's Best Workplaces for Commuters, USEPA, Office of Air and Radiation, November 2005
Chevron's Vanpool Program - Antioch, California
Commuting takes a toll on drivers and the environment. That's why Chevron's efficiency and conservation programs inspire employees and others to leave their cars at home.
Angela Spinelli, a Chevron recruiter who volunteers to drive one of Chevron's 155 active vanpools, shares one of the additional benefits of the vanpool program. "It becomes like a little family type thing," she says of the co-workers who ride her vanpool.
Vanpool service helps Chevron employees exhausted from high traffic congestion. Right now Chevron has 155 active vans in our fleet, and with a reputation built on safety, we have some of the safest vans on the road today.
For more info about Chevron's program visit www.willyoujoinus.com.
Source: www.willyoujoinus.com
BMW
In 2003, employees at BMW Manufacturing implemented an associates carpooling program. Currently, more than 600 employees participate in the process saving an estimated 20,000 gallons of gas annually. Carpoolers take advantage of carpooling incentives such as premium parking and monthly drawings for gas cards.
Source: www.bmwusfactory.com/Environment.aspx?id=244
Public Transit
University of Utah - Salt Lake City, UT
During the early 1990s the University of Utah began facing the challenge of providing parking for its increasing student enrollment. To meet the demand, the University partnered with UTA to institute its "Ed Pass" program providing free bus passes to students. Today the Ed Pass program has expanded to include TRAX light rail and most recently FrontRunner commuter rail. The program remains the cornerstone of the U's alternative transportation efforts. In a November 2007 survey conducted by Valley Research, the program's success continues to grow:
- Almost 80% of students, faculty and staff have obtained a UTA Ed Pass.
- Almost 60% of students, faculty and staff have used their UTA Ed Pass to commute to the U.
- Approximately 29% of students, faculty and staff use UTA to commute to campus each day.
- Approximately 47% of students, faculty and staff commute to campus via alternative transportation (UTA, shuttle, bike, walk or carpool).
For links to articles discussing University of Utah's Ed Pass program click here.
Source: Auxiliary Services, University of Utah
ATK Aerospace Structures - Clearfield, UT
ATK Aerospace Structures' has entered into an agreement with the Utah Transit Authority to provide ECO Passes to all employees at its Clearfield location. This program has been extremely successful; approximately one-half of ATK's Clearfield employees are participating in the ECO Pass program, with most utilizing the FrontRunner commuter rail. This program has also encouraged ATK's employees to embrace a healthier lifestyle by incorporating walking or bicycling into their daily routine. The wireless service on the train allows employees to utilize their travel time efficiently to and from work. Participating employees have significantly reduced commuting costs and the program has freed up parking spaces at the facility eliminating congestion in parking areas. ATK is pleased with employee response and the effectiveness of the ECO passes.
Source: Human Resource Department, ATK Aerospace Structures
Calvert Group - Bethesda, Maryland
This socially responsible investment fund located in suburban Washington, D.C., offers its employees full reimbursement for using public transportation in their commute to and from work, regardless of the provider.
- Employee turnover dropped from 25% to 12% after implementation of the program.
- The company gained national attention for the quality of its employee programs in national publications such as Business Week and Working Mothers Magazine.
Source: Best Workplaces for Commuters (www.bestworkplaces.org)
Georgia Power - Atlanta, Georgia
One in a series of commuter benefits the company offers, employees are given monthly subsidies for transit (as well as shuttles and vanpools). They also increased shuttles to and from the MARTA rail system to 10 minute (or less) headways throughout the day to encourage ridership. The company increased the use of alternative modes three-fold between 1997 and 2000, from 300 employees to 1500, from 10 to 50 percent of all employees.
Source: Best Workplaces for Commuters, Transit and Vanpool Benefits: Implementing Commuter Benefits as One of the Nation's Best Workplaces for Commuters, USEPA, Office of Air and Radiation, November 2005
NOS Communications - Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas based NOS Communications subsidizes 100 percent of the cost of the transit passes and considers the passes an employee benefit that enriches its benefits package and increases employee retention. Using transit is considered an easy, stress-free, reliable and inexpensive transportation alternative for its employees to get to work. An additional benefit is that employees are more aware of air quality and traffic congestion issues in the community.
Source: http://www.bestworkplaces.org/about/success.htm
Teleworking
Sun Microsystems - Santa Clara, California
Sun is involved in both offering a telework program to employees as well as using its established program to help other companies set up their telecommunications technology and infrastructure. Sun's internal telework program, iWork, enables 3,000 employees to work from all over the country. Results include:
- Employees have reported a 34% increase in productivity and increased job satisfaction.
- Ranked 5th in the list of top 20 Best Workplaces for Commuters. (September 2004)
Source: Best Workplaces for Commuters: United States Environmental Protection Agency Office of Air and Radiation, January 2005
AstraZeneca - Deleware
AstraZeneca, a pharmaceutical company, created its telework program as a result of merger and headquarters relocation from Pennsylvania to Delaware in 2000. Facing the loss of many well qualified employees, AstraZeneca explored how to make their workplace more flexible to accommodate long commute times for Pennsylvania-based employees. After introducing the telework program, over 600 employees signed contracts and received training on effective teleworking and 275 employees are actively teleworking.
Additionally, Delaware state traffic mitigation law requires that at 1east 15 percent of AstraZeneca employees not drive in single-occupancy vehicles; the telework program helps them meet this mandate.
Compressed Work Weeks
Washington State Department of Transportation - Washington
In 1980, WSDOT embarked on a long-term mission to change its work processes by implementing flexible working conditions, including a four-day workweek. Twenty-five percent of WSDOT employees use the compressed workweek schedule. Results include:
- WSDOT has the lowest employee turnover of any state agency.
- Impact on productivity and cost savings is conservatively estimated at $200,000 for the Olympic Region alone.
- Increased employee performance and customer service.
Source: Washington State University Cooperative Extension Energy Program and Commuter Challenge. Published February 2000.
ARCO Products Company - Bellingham, Washington
ARCO began their compressed schedule in 1980 and currently, 95 percent of employees take part. Employees work 4/10s, 3/12s, or 9/80s. Since beginning, the company has experienced a 33 percent decrease in shift transition time, a 10 percent increase in maintenance efficiency along with increased morale, reduced absenteeism, and decreased traffic and parking congestion. In fact, the company considers the Bellingham plant's schedule options so successful that they are going to implement the same options at the company's corporate headquarters in California.
Source: http://www.commuterchallenge.org/cc/casestudies/cs_arco.html
Macy's
Alternative work schedule in a retail environment is relatively unusual. But, 7,000 employees in 50+ stores in the northwest region work a variety of schedules, 40 percent of whom work a compressed workweek, in order to accommodate personal needs. As evidenced by employee surveys, flexible work hours are second only to pay and medical insurance in terms of valued benefits. Benefits of the program cited by the company include being an effective tool for retention and recruitment, increased employee satisfaction, improved coverage, more teamwork and cross-training, reduced absenteeism and enhanced employee work/life balance. However, the program has not been without its challenges and a few of the lessons learned by Macy's include making employees complete a probationary period before being allowed to use an alternative work schedule and the importance of long-term benefits such as employee retention to management.
Source: www.commuterchallenge.org/cc/casestudies/cs_macys.html
Active Transportation
REI - Salt Lake City, Utah
REI's program encourages commuters to get to work by biking, walking and other means of shared transportation. Program incentives include store discounts and recognition awards, which have increased staff participation to 1/3 during the summer months.
Source: Human Resource Department, REI
Wyeth Biopharma - Andover, Massachussets
Wyeth BioPharma has one of the largest biopharmaceutical development and manufacturing capacities in the world. With over 2,400 employees, it currently offers one of the most generous commuter benefits in the state. These benefits include on-site facilities to accommodate bicycle and walking commuters (e.g. showers, cafeteria, dry cleaning, lockers) and free emergency ride home for all commuters, to ensure they are not stranded at work in case of emergencies and unsafe weather conditions for walking/bicycling.
Source: ActiveTransportation.org
City of Palo Alto, California
The City of Palo Alto, California offers an Employee Commute Program that consists of Commuter Checks for employees that commute using alternative modes of transportation. Full-time employees eligible for benefits must use an alternative mode for their commute at least 60% of the time in order to qualify for the program. Employees that walk or bicycle to work are given a $20 monthly cash incentive (taxable) for their commute mode. Employees that are not benefits eligible who use an alternate commute mode are encouraged to turn in a commute log and enter a drawing to win a prize each month.
Source: http://www.bestworkplaces.org/about/success.htm#p
Case Study:
Robyn in Madison, Wisconsin uses the great bike paths in her local community to make a daily seven-mile commute to and from her job at the university even though she is seven months pregnant. "My pace may be slower than usual, but it is a real joy to be able to get a little fresh air and exercise on a daily basis." She likes to spend time thinking about the day ahead on the morning commute and then un-winding from her day on the afternoon ride home. She finds that Madison's city streets are wide enough to accommodate both her and motor traffic, and many streets have dedicated and well-maintained bike lanes making it easy to get where she wants to go on a bike.
Source: http://www.activetransportation.org/champions.htm
Flexible Work Schedules
Rio Tinto - South Jordan, Utah
The flexible work schedules program at Rio Tinto includes staggered shifts, job sharing and modified work schedules. Implementation of this program has reduced turnover savings by $800 thousand and raised productivity by 3%.
Source: Human Resource Department, Rio Tinto
Innovative Staffing, Inc.
A Utah-based human resources outsourcing firm, Innovative Staffing, Inc., has been recognized by Utah Business magazine as a great place to work. One of the reasons they are such a prized place to work includes creative flexible work schedules. Each employee has flexibility in their schedule while still taking care of the business and customer needs of the company. "I work here because I feel like the owners care about us as employees, about our lives. They are very flexible with us and take good care of us," says Colin Thompson, director of human resources at Innovative Staffing.
Source: http://www.utahbusiness.com/parser.php?nav=article&article_id=6449
The Container Store
The Container Store, a national storage and organization company, feels that flexibility is one of the keys to their success. They operate retail locations open seven days a week. While 100% turnover is commonplace in the retail industry, The Container Store's turnover for full-time employees is approximately 8%. The reason, "flexibility is the key to a great work environment," indicates Garrett Boone, chairman and co-founder of the company. "It's important to recognize employees as unique individuals," and schedule and train accordingly. The Container Store is doing something right because they have been awarded FORTUNE magazine's Best Companies To Work For at least nine times.
Source: "Flexible work hours can benefit both employers and employees", Lisa Tanner, Dallas Business Journal, Mar. 14, 2003; http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/stories/2003/03/17/focus1.html
Reducing Energy Consumption/Improving Air Quality
Salt Lake County
To reach its goal of a 22% reduction in energy consumption by 2012, Salt Lake County has:
- Completed a comprehensive Solar Study for solar installations at over 30 of its facilities including libraries, convention centers, recreation centers, etc.
- Installed solar panels to provide electricity for the Clark Planetarium and Salt Palace Convention Center
- Undertaken a massive recycling program with plans for new recycling initiatives implemented in its facilities by the end of 2009
- Set a minimum standard of achieving LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification on construction of all new County facilities. This will create buildings with sustainable designs, which will lower operating costs, improve air quality indoors, increase worker production and reduce resource usage.
Source: Salt Lake County Mayor's Office