Northwest Hospital Commute Profile

The numbers add up to a great ridesharing program
Nearly 800 of Northwest Hospital's 1,900 employees use an alternative commute mode at least three time a week. In a hospital setting with multiple shifts, rotating schedules and unscheduled overtime, this is particularly commendable and has earned Northwest Hospital a Commuter Challenge Diamond Award for ridesharing.

Jan. 30, 2002 Awards Ceremony

Accepting Northwest Hospital's Diamond Award are Employee Transportation Coordinator Sue Hunt and Vice President Chris Roth.

Through a FlexPass program, Northwest Hospital pays employees 75 percent of bus, rail, vanpool, carpool or ferry costs. They also are offered Guaranteed Ride Home, which covers the taxi fare for employees who rideshare to work and need to leave unexpectedly or must work unplanned overtime. For bicylists and walkers, Northwest Hospital provides showers and lockers and covered bicycle storage.

To address a severe parking shortage, the hospital initiated a comprehensive parking management program, including a parking charge, in the fall of 2000.

“In this area of Seattle, parking is typically free. Employees didn't want to pay for parking,” said Employee Transportation Coordinator Sue Hunt. “We worked hard to develop a parking policy that would be as fair as possible to everyone, yet still reduce the demand for parking, help achieve our commute trip reduction goals, and provide sufficient parking for our patients and visitors.”

Day shift employees, who commute during peak hours, are charged $30 a month. Swing shift employees pay $20 a month, while third shift employees park for free. Vanpools and carpools park free and have reserved spaces. Registered vanpoolers and carpoolers receive one free parking day between the 20th and 30th of each month if they drive alone.

A management team developed the initial parking policy, and a parking committee reviewed and revised the policy after the program had been in place for several months.

“When we offered free parking for carpools and vanpools, ridesharing increased dramatically,” Hunt said. “Where people wouldn't have considered it before, they started looking at ridesharing as an option. Once they gave it a try they realized they not only saved money, but that it was much less stressful and often faster given the carpool lanes.”

Since implementing their parking management program, Northwest Hospital drive alone rate has dropped to 58 percent.

*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.