BECU Commute Profile

Flexibility is key to successful ridesharing program
Boeing Employees' Credit Union (BECU) has received a Commuter Challenge 2001 Diamond Award for its ridesharing program.

The largest credit union in the state and fourth largest in the country, BECU provides a full range of financial services to approximately 300,000 current and former Boeing employees and their families. It has more than 534 employees commuting to the Tukwila office. Because of limited access to bus service, BECU's transportation program focuses on carpooling and vanpooling.

Jan. 30, 2002 Awards Ceremony

Accepting BECU's Diamond Award are Gary Oakland, President; Wendy Neece, Employee Transportation Coordinator; Elaine Terry, Vice President; and Debbie Terry, Director.

BECU provides employees transit, vanpool, and ferry subsidies. It also offers reserved parking for carpools and vanpools on the first level of the parking garage near the building entrance. Company wide e-mails are regularly sent announcing that individuals need carpool partners. Employee Transportation Coordinator Wendy Neece works closely with potential vanpoolers, helping them find an existing vanpool to join or start a new vanpool.

BECU is continuously seeking ways to increase ridesharing. When transit fares recently increased, BECU increased its transit and vanpool subsidy from $30 to $50 a month. As a result, bus ridership increased and two new vanpools started. Currently, 26 percent of BECU's employees carpool or vanpool to work. Twenty-six percent of BECU employees ride the bus, train or a vanpool.

“We try to work in a grace period as far as our morning and evening departure times to allow for those who want to rideshare,” said Employee Transportation Coordinator Wendy Neece. “We try to be as flexible as possible with shifts to help accommodate those wanting to use the program.”

Flexibility is the name of the game in BECU's ridesharing program. In one instance, a group of employees commuting from the same area wanted to vanpool, but their shifts were slightly different. Employee Transportation Coordinator Wendy Neece worked with the employees to start an early van and a late van on the same route. Now two vans run every morning and two every evening with slightly different departure times, meeting all the employee's needs.

“BECU is committed to creating alternatives to the single occupancy vehicle mode of transportation to the workplace,” said Elaine Terry, Vice President of Human Resources. “In addition to carpools and vanpools, our efforts including promoting bicycles, buses and ferries. We want to make a difference and positively impact the commuting issues in the Puget Sound region.”

*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.