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Category: Ridesharing Federal
Detention Center,
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Detention Center
uses vanpools to reduce trips
The Federal Detention Center at SeaTac is one of
Western Washington's newest detention centers and serves
many of the federal detention needs of the area. At over
250 employees, facility personnel represent a significant
portion of commuters working in the City of SeaTac. This
year the Federal Detention Center, SeaTac receives the
Diamond Award for excellence in ridesharing.
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Jan. 18, 2001 Awards
Ceremony Transportation Program Manager Lawrence Tubbs accepts the Federal Detention Center's Diamond Award for ridesharing. |
Most FDC employees live south of the facility, with commuters travelling from as far away as Thurston and Kitsap counties each day. Employees receive completely subsidized FlexPasses which can be applied to vanpool fares. Since most employees live beyond the reach of bus service, carpools and vanpools are the main form of commute reduction. More than 200 transit passes are issued to employees, out of which 60 are used by vanpoolers. A guaranteed ride home is also offered as part of the FlexPass program, and priority spaces are set aside for vanpools. The facility also has 20 staff members in the food and health services departments participating in a compressed workweek program of four 10-hour days.
Union representatives from Local 1102 Chapter of the American Federation of Government Employees participated in the development of the commute benefits package, and the 105 union employees make use of the program as well.
Commute options
cover all shifts
The Federal Detention Center operates on three
shifts in a 24-hour day, and some employees rotate shifts
every 90 days, making organized vanpool participation
difficult. However, employees may also form carpools and
the FDC has a total of 70 employees carpooling throughout
the day, swing, and graveyard shifts. The facility also
has 25 designated carpool parking spaces located close to
the main building.
“More than half of our staff are divided across three shifts around the clock,” Transportation Manager Lawrence Tubbs said, “and we have an effective carpool program for every shift. The commute benefits are an opportunity to provide our employees with a program that has a direct positive impact on their morale and the way they work at the institution.”
Future plans for the Federal Detention Center's commute trip reduction program include the possible addition of a vanpool running south from locations in northern King County and southern Snohomish County. The Center is also working toward the addition of vanpools for the swing and graveyard shifts as well.
Commuting
program
Results 60 people vanpool to work, 70 carpool, 20 work a compressed workweek, and 2 ride the bus |
*Some definitions: An “ETC” is the staff-level employee transportation coordinator responsible for the daily administration of the transportation program; “PM” is the transportation program manager; and “CEO” refers to the top management-level person at the worksite. “SOV” stands for single-occupant vehicle, and “CTR” for commute trip reduction.