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Category: Transit Acordia Northwest, Inc., |
- CEO: John Roberts, Managing Director
- PM: Becky Sonsalla, Vice President, Operations
- ETC: Chris Martin, Controller
- ETC: Gayle Stuart, Executive Assistant
FlexPass major factor in CTR
program
Acordia Northwest, an insurance brokerage firm, is
located in the heart of downtown Seattle. Like many
employers, for years it provided parking for a large part
of its staff.
When the Commute Trip Reduction (CTR) Law was passed, Acordia management decided the best way to comply with the law was to encourage employees to leave their cars at home and commute via transit. Management developed a generous FlexPass program that fully subsidizes travel on King County Metro, Community Transit, and Sound Transit. Acordia provides a subsidy of $30 a month for employees commuting from Kitsap County via transit and ferry.
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Representing Accordia Northwest (From left to right): Chris Martin, Gayle Stuart, Becky Sonsalla, John Roberts. |
“The FlexPass program provided us a unique opportunity to do something positive for the environment, while at the same time giving something to our employees,” says John Roberts, managing director.
All parking eliminated
At the same time Acordia instigated the FlexPass,
management eliminated company-paid parking for many of
its employees, hoping that would further encourage
employees to use transit. It did, and the money the
company saved on parking ($200 per space per month) more
than paid for the FlexPass program. Now, Acordia only
provides parking for its sales force, employees not
affected by the CTR law. Even some of those employees
take transit to work when they do not need their cars for
sales calls.
The benefit of a free commute also helps retain and recruit employees, saving costs incurred by frequent turnover. “Employees view the FlexPass as a great benefit,” says Gayle Stuart, employee transportation coordinator. “And it's a great morale booster.”
This strong program has resulted in a transit ridership of 73%. Add in the employees who carpool, telework, and bicycle or walk to work and Acordia can boast that a whooping 93% of its CTR affected employees use alternate commute modes.
Commuting
program
Results Of 118 affected employees, 86 ride the bus, 15 carpool, 5 telework, and 4 bicycle or walk. |
*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.