SAFECO Commute Profile

A long tradition of transportation excellence
SAFECO, a Fortune 500 diversified financial services company, has a tradition of supporting employee transportation programs dating back to the 1970s. SAFECO has continued to win awards for its program including: Commuter Choice Leadership Champion, one of five national recipients named by the United States Environmental Protection Agency; Governor's Commute Smart Award for two consecutive years; and recognition from the City of Seattle and former Mayor Paul Schell for innovative use of technology on its web based Commute Trip Reduction survey. SAFECO will add to this impressive list a 2001 Commuter Challenge Diamond Ring Award for Organizational Leadership. SAFECO also was acknowledged by Commuter Challenge in 1994, 1996, 1997 and 2000.

Jan. 30, 2002 Awards Ceremony

Accepting SAFECO's Diamond Ring Award are Vice President Scott Owen and Employee Transportation Coordinator Brady Clark.

SAFECO offers its employees a FlexPass that gives them unlimited rides on Metro, Community Transit, Sound Transit and Pierce Transit. In 2001, SAFECO implemented a new Vanpool Incentive Program, which attracted 180 new vanpoolers and removed more than 78,000 commute trips a year from the roads. The vanpoolers received $70 a month in vouchers and incentives. Drivers were rewarded with a $50 driver bonus. Any vanpooler recruiting a new vanpooler received $25.

“We want employees to arrive to the office safe, on time, and ready to work,” said Program Manager Jeff Aumell. “By taking advantage of our incentives and commute options, employees can save money and, at the same time, help the environment by reducing traffic congestion.” SAFECO's commute program has reduced the need for 575 parking stalls on the Redmond campus and over 700 spaces at SAFECO Plaza in the University District.

In addition to being a leader in providing a comprehensive transportation program for their employees, SAFECO is a leader in the region working to solve transportation problems. SAFECO is involved in a variety of committees and organizations including the Association for Commuter Transportation, Commuter Choice Leadership Initiative, Washington State Rideshare Organization, the Governor's Commute Trip Reduction Task Force and the Regional Vanpool Coordination Team.

As further demonstration of leadership, SAFECO created a web-based version of the Commute Trip Reduction survey, which organizations affected by the Commute Trip Reduction law are required to conduct every two years. SAFECO provided this survey format to the Washington State Department of Transportation and the Greater Redmond Transportation Management Association to be used as a prototype for a statewide electronic survey.

*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.