Employer Services Grant Profiles - December 1999
Rideshare Subsidy Grant Profiles - December 1999
Grant Allocation: $30,940
Employer Match: $6,900
Eastern Washington University, located in the city of Cheney, has more than 6,000 students and 1,250 employees. EWU began its CTR program in 1994 and continues to fund CTR activities through parking fees. A large percentage of the schoolís student body and staff commute between the campus and Spokaneó16 miles to the northó on a daily basis.
EWU staff who participated in their CTR program were treated to a final "Thank you" barbecue. This event, like their entire CTR effort, was extremely popular.
Initially, EWU used its Employer Services grant to increase the transit subsidy offered to employees with the Eagle Bus Pass. Midway through the grant period, EWU expanded its incentives to include all modes, which inspired more people to join their program.
Project Elements
- Monthly and quarterly transit passes were offered to employees at a 65 percent discount
- 10 free parking passes per quarter were made available to transit riders
- A point system was devised in which members receive credit for each day they use an alternative commute. The points were applied to gift certificates, redeemable at a local shopping mall and Eagle Hardware.
- Monthly prize drawings were held
- An aggressive promotional campaign was conducted during the grant period including flyers, tee shirts, newsletter articles, as well as participation in the Oil Smart, Cool to Carpool, and Bike to Work Week campaigns
- The 'Find Another Way' squad made surprise visits to all 35 campus buildings and rewarded staff who had used an alternative that day with a coupon for lattes and donuts.
Impacts and Lessons
EWU increased its bus pass sales from an average of 60 passes per month to over 100, with a monthly high of 126.
EWU staff stated employees learned that alternative commuting can be fun and recommend other ETCs form CTR committees who can help with the program. They advise other CTR programs that offering a subsidy and incentive program can take a lot of time and effort. EWU believes its CTR program would not have been nearly as successful if it werenít for monetary incentives.
"The original ETC at EWU--who saw what we did with the grant--said 'I never expected our CTR program to go as far as it has. When I was given the task of doing CTR, I thought it would never be acheivable. You've done a great job!'"
--Nadine Hopp, EWU Employee Transportation Coordinator |
Grant Allocation: $50,000
Employer Match: $65,440
Microsoft participates in King County Metro's Flexpass program, which allows the company to offer free bus passes and a significantly subsidized vanpool fare for all Microsoft employees in the Puget Sound region. The program had become so popular that two key Metro routes serving the Redmond area were running beyond capacity. It had even gotten to the point that riders were being left behind at the Montlake Transit stationóa key transfer point and the last transit station on the west side of Lake Washington. The partnership Microsoft formed with King County Metro - supported by an Employer Services grant - was designed to address this challenge.
The project called for the addition of five bus trips during peak hours on Metro routes 242 and 263. King County Metro also agreed if ridership remained high on these additional routes, service would continue after the grant expired.
Growing employee demand for transit inspired Microsoft to partner with King County Metro and apply for a grant to expand service between Seattle and the Overlake park and ride lot near the Microsoft campus. The successful new service eliminated more than 120 peak hour trips per day.
Impacts and Lessons
Ridership on these routes measured 124 riders per day, on average. The new routes reduced the number of over-crowding complaints made by Microsoft employees and increased transit mode share by Microsoft staff. And most importantly, the ridership was substantial enough to warrant continuation of these additional trips after the grant expired.
Microsoft staff indicated the Employer Service grant was critical in creating this new service and promoting transit as a viable option for employees. Without additional bus trips, many riders may have been affected by overcrowding conditions and may have stopped using transit altogether ó adding to traffic congestion on the SR 520 corridor.
A partnership like the one formed between Microsoft and King County Metro is an excellent example of how private and public sectors can work together to create comprehensive CTR programs and meet the transportation needs of employees.
"If the grant didnít exist, these additional bus trips would not have been added. As a result, over-crowding on the affected routes would have increased and ridership would have continued to fall. These additional trips stemmed the trend of falling transit ridership on the routes.Bob Kaplan,
Microsoft ETC |
Washington State Department of General Administration -
The Capitol Campus Bicycles Facilities Project
Grant Allocation: $26,150
Employer Match: $2,150 More than 20 state government agencies are located on the Capitol Campus in Olympia and nearly 10,000 employees converge on the campus daily. This influx creates traffic congestion during the morning and afternoon commute hours.
Based on the 1997 CTR employee survey, approximately 15 percent of employees responded that improved bicycle facilities would increase their likelihood of bicycling to work.
The Washington State Department of General Administration used their Employer Services Grant to install a series of racks and enclosed bicycle storage areas across the Captiol Campus in Olympia. More than 150 state employees signed up to take advantage of these new facilities.
Using this information, the Washington State Department of General Administration, identified in the CTR Law as the lead agency for program implementation at all affected state government facilities, developed a grant to provide new and improved bicycle facilities on the Capitol campus.
The project had several components:
- construction of five secure bicycle cages
- mounting of 15 new bicycle racks
- assumption of administration responsibility over two pre-existing bicycle cages
- development of web-based registration system
- assigned security access codes for all registered participants
- posted signage on all cages
- printing and distribution of 5,000 brochures advertising new facilities.
Impacts and Lessons
To date, more than 150 state workers have registered to use the bicycle cages and the stand-alone bicycle racks are attracting a growing number of bicyclists. These facilities increased campus bicycle storage capacity by 200 percent, and not one incident of theft or vandalism has been reported since the facilities were added.
This project has demonstrated the benefit of economies of scale, by making possible the development and installation of bicycle facilities across a large geographical area, rather than on a site by site basis.
| By establishing the project as an integrated system--all state employees on the Capitol Campus have access to all facilities through a one-stop application center and one access code--it reduced administrative and enforcement needs and costs." -- Michael Van Gelder, GA Project Coordinator |
Employer Services Grant Allocation: $30,940
Rideshare Subsidy Grant: $11,500
Employer Match: $9,670
Project Elements
Seattle Goodwill is perhaps best known for their seven thrift stores located throughout the Puget Sound region. But behind the scenes, one of the most important things they do is support an Employment and Training Program. Trainees earn minimum wage in the nine-month program, while they learn on-the-job skills and take classes that will help them secure employment at a higher wage.
The Employer Services grant, combined with an $11,500 Rideshare Subsidy grant, permitted the Seattle Goodwill to:
- offer a $20 incentive per month to transit riders, carpoolers, bikers, and walkers
- establish a new in-house ridematching service
- create HOV parking with signage
- enhance CTR marketing efforts
- initiate a Home Free Guarantee program
Impacts and Lessons
By combining the Employer Services and Rideshare Subsidy grants, Seattle Goodwill reduced its already low 42 percent SOV rate to 39 percent.
Seattle Goodwill supports the CTR program because it reduces traffic congestion and air pollution, and provides them an opportunity to educate employees. By offering incentives and informational materials to those participating in their ongoing Employment and Training program, staff feel it helps individuals learn about alternative transportation modes.
Seattle Goodwillís CTR program is designed so employees will continue to use alternative modes after completion of the training program as they move on to other jobs within the community.
Seattle Goodwill believes small incentives combined with a plan that minimizes consequences of non-SOV commuting works. However, staff also stated that the amount of staff time required to administer an effective CTR program was more than they anticipated. They suggested other employers who intend to offer a comprehensive program should realistically anticipate the amount of time needed to make the program successful.
"Several employees told us that the money they saved through the incentive program helped them provide necessary clothing and school supplies for their families."
-- Alice Braverman, Seattle Goodwill ETC |
Rideshare Subsidy Grants - $1 Million
Employer Match: $61,415
The University Village is a newly expanded and renovated shopping area located one-quarter mile northeast of the University of Washington campus. The village has 80 small to medium businesses which together employ 1,700 people. Even though none of the individual businesses are large enough to be affected by the CTR Law, the concentration of this many employees in one location has a significant impact on the adjoining transportation system, as well as the availability of customer parking.
University Village Management used their Rideshare Subsidy grant to support a new transportation benefit program for 1,700 employees working at 80 individual business at the site. Transit ridership increased from seven percent to 25 percent as a result of the grant.
University Village Management combined their Common Area Maintenance Fund (CAMF) with a Rideshare Subsidy grant. Merchants contribute to the CAMF for the purpose of reducing congestion and freeing up valuable parking spaces. University Village offered a comprehensive package of transportation services and benefits to all workers at the site:
- Flexpasses for all 1,700 employees
- a new on-site Village Transportation Coordinator
- a new biking and walking program
- a destination brochure for employees and customers that highlighted bus/bike/walk options to University Village
- a transportation kiosk and information platform
- an active marketing campaign.
Impacts and Lessons
University Village Managementís new program saw an increase in bus ridership from seven percent to 24.7 percent. They reported more than 100 carpools, 77 bikers, 420 regular transit riders, and 274 walkers. Management also estimated that the number of total vehicle miles traveled reduced during the course of the grant was nearly 878,000 miles.
A number of important and valuable lessons can be drawn from University Village Managementís transportation program. First, they used grant dollars to leverage money from the Common Area Maintenance Fund. Second, an active and creative Employee Transportation Coordinator was crucial to the success of a program spread over an entire shopping center. Third, others undertaking a similar project should consider issuing quarterly transit passes rather than annual ones, as the higher rate of employee turnover makes it more difficult to retrieve the passes when employment ends.
"This program shows that providing funding at a location with a large number of retail employees can make a significant difference to a business, the surrounding community, and the employees--many of who are entry level folks--and how they get to work. This type of program makes businees sense for all these populations."
-- Jennifer Seversen, University Village Management |
King County Government Rideshare Grant Allocation: $100,000
Employer Match: $1,290,819 In January 1998, King County government began offering all of its employees eligible for leave and insured benefits a free annual bus pass - also known as a Flexpass - valid on any King County Metro, Community Transit, Pierce Transit, and Sound Transit route. When King County Metro learned they would be eligible for a Rideshare Subsidy grant, they applied for the maximum amount available in order to offset the cost of providing this popular transportation benefit.
The 1.3 mile long Metro Transit Tunnel underneath downtown Seattle is the nation's first tunnel designed for dual-power buses. Twenty-five percent of all peak hour trips through Seattle use the tunnel--serving destinations across the metropolitan area.
Rideshare Grant Allocation: $11,200
Two Employer Services Grant Allocations: $15,650
Employer Match: $15,000
The Airway Heights Corrections Center (AHCC), located 12 miles west of Spokane, has more than 500 employees working at the medium security facility. In September 1998, Spokane Transit Authority began offering peak hour service to the center. Seizing on this opportunity, AHCC staff applied for an Employer Services grant for a transit subsidy to encourage people to take advantage of the new service, and two other grantsóan Employer Services grant for a new carpool subsidy and a Rideshare Subsidy grant to add additional funding for this effort.
To support transit ridership, AHCC staff aggressively marketed their $10 discount on monthly transit passes to employees. They conducted a transit field trip between the correction center and the downtown Spokane transit plaza and offered a $10 restaurant gift certificate to all participants who took the trip.
The Airway Heights Correction Center combined two Employer Services grants with a Rideshare Subsidy grant to enhance their CTR program. AHCC worked with the Spokane Transit Authority to improve transit service, and provided greater incentives to transit riders, vanpoolers, and carpoolers.
AHCC's Rideshare Subsidy grant and second Employer Services grant were aimed at increasing the number of rideshare participants. Originally, they intended to provide incentives of $25 per month to carpoolers and vanpoolers commuting to the center. They also used these dollars to add an additional $25 per month incentive to transit riders when ridership fell below their goal of 30. But when it became apparent that their grant dollars would be exhausted sooner than anticipated, they applied for a revised contract through the rideshare subsidy grant program administrator. AHCC was awarded an additional $2,500 to help them maintain their subsidy levels for carpools, vanpools, and transit until the end of the grant period.
Impacts and Lessons
AHCC's Rideshare Subsidy grant program inspired 84 people to carpool and six people to vanpool. Their Employer Services grant generated enough ridership on the new peak hour service to warrant the continuation of this service by STA.
AHCC's three CTR enhancement efforts are unique in a number of ways. First, they recognized the significance of new peak hour transit service and built a grant application around this transportation infrastructure improvement. Second, when AHCC staff realized that the goals they established for transit ridership would not be met, they drew funds from their Rideshare Subsidy grant to provide an additional incentive to transit riders. This quick reaction and creativity was instrumental in the retention of the new peak hour service to the center. Third, AHCCís close monitoring of grant dollars helped them seek a contract amendment through their CTR grant administrator, which was approved when it was clear that some of the $1 million in Rideshare Subsidy dollars were still available.