Ride your bike to the bus - reduce traffic, air pollution, and fuel consumption! |
You can reduce your stress, save money, and improve your environment when you get to work without driving alone. CTR is a statewide program that helps develop and promote commute options.
The goals of the CTR Program are to reduce traffic congestion, air pollution, and fuel consumption by working with local jurisdictions and major employers to reduce drive-alone commuting. Nearly 1,100 worksites in Washington State participate in the program. The Washington State Legislature passed the CTR Law in 1991, incorporating it into the Washington Clean Air Act.
CTR is working
Employees commuting to all CTR worksites statewide made more than 26,000 fewer vehicle trips each weekday morning in 2007 than they did when those worksites entered the program. Since many of these trips would otherwise have passed through the state's major traffic chokepoints, their absence reduces our travel delay. For example, CTR employees in the Central Puget Sound made more than 19,200 fewer vehicle trips each weekday morning in 2007 than they did when their employers entered the program. The absence of these trips reduced travel delay by an estimated 18 percent on average during the peak morning commute in the region.
Did you know that our state has bucked a national trend?
Washington and Oregon were the only states where the percentage of people driving alone to work decreased between 1993 and 2000. In Washington State, the percentage of people who drove alone to work decreased from 74 percent to 73 percent. This small change is important because greater burdens are placed on our highway system when people drive alone to work than when they ride in buses, vans, and carpools, or use other modes. In all other states the average rate for drive-alone commuting increased.
The drive-alone rate dropped even more at CTR worksites
At worksites that have participated in the CTR Program since 1993, the drive-alone rate dropped from 70.9 percent in 1993 to 65.5 percent in 2007. This is a larger drop than for the state as a whole and is also larger than the drop at other worksites in the same areas that have the same access to commute options.
CTR commuters reduced emissions of nearly 4000 tons of air pollution in 2007 through the choices they made. They also reduced petroleum consumption by about 7.9 million gallons, saving them over $23 million in fuel costs.