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 was documented:

• 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 school
• 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 (i.e. UTA, shuttle, bike, walk or carpool)

Click here to watch a video on the University of Utah's Ed Pass program.

Source: Auxiliary Services, University of 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%.

Click here to watch a video on Rio Tinto's flexible schedules program.

Source: Human Resource Department, Rio Tinto

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 and eliminated congestion in parking areas. ATK has been pleased with the employee response and the effectiveness of the ECO Passes.

Source: Human Resource Department, ATK Aerospace Structures

Novell's vanpooling program includes nine UTA vans carrying 10% of their workforce from areas in both Salt Lake County and Utah County. Enrollment tripled in the course of a year and employee morale and retention have improved since its initiation.

Source: Human Resource Department, Novell

In a statewide effort to cut energy use in Utah, Governor Jon Huntsman, Jr. instituted a four-day workweek for state employees at the beginning of August 2008. This "Working for Utah" program was intended to provide better customer service to Utahns while reducing the amount of money employees must spend on gas per week. This change affected 23,000 State workers. In the first year, the program resulted in saving Utah $4.1 million due to reduced spending on energy, janitorial services and employee overtime.

REI's commuter program encourages its employees to get to work by biking, walking and other means of shared transportation. Program incentives include store discounts and recognition awards which has led to 1/3 of the staff participation during the summer months.

Click here to watch a video on REI's commuter program.

Source: Human Resource Department, REI

For years, Deseret Book Company offered transit passes to some full-time employees at their corporate office in Salt Lake City. When the multi-year downtown Salt Lake construction project began, parking became scarce. In response to this problem, and at the request of several employees, they decided to expand the program and offer reduced-price ECO transit passes to all employees at their corporate office and some employees at their downtown retail store.

The program has been well received, with nearly 50% of eligible employees participating. Employees have appreciated the convenience of using transit, and have noted that it helps relieve the stress of commuting in traffic and saves money compared to driving alone. Deseret Book Company feels that this program helps them maintain their commitment to being a good community partner, and have found that the ECO pass program not only meets the needs of its employees, but also has an added bonus of saving the company money on employee parking. Overall, a win-win for everybody.

Source: Human Resource Department, Deseret Book Company