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Category: Parking Management Expeditors, |
- CEO: Peter Rose, CEO
- PM/ETC: Julie Higgins, Executive Assistant
Company meets challenges of
relocation
Expeditors International of Washington is a
global logistics company headquartered in Seattle. The
company satisfies the increasingly sophisticated needs of
international trade through a worldwide network of highly
trained professionals and integrated information
management systems.
In 1997, Expeditors decided to renovate the old Seattle City Light building in the heart of downtown Seattle for its corporate headquarters. Employees would be consolidated from offices in downtown Seattle and SeaTac.
Building planners sat down with representatives from King County Metro and the City of Seattle to discuss Expeditors' commute trip reduction requirements and how that fit in with the transportation management plan (TMP) for the area. Because the company wanted to comply with the CTR law and discourage its employees from commuting alone, management decided none of the 132 parking spaces in the renovated building would be provided to Expeditors' employees free of charge. It was a rare and bold move for a downtown Seattle company.
That decision made, management faced its next big challenge. Expeditors did not want to lose any of its valued employees. Management realized relocating from SeaTac, with ample free parking, to downtown Seattle with no free parking, was going to be a drastic change for employees. Not only would the commute be longer for many, it now would be very costly.
Therefore, management decided to provide all employees with a fully paid FlexPass, good on all King County Metro bus routes and Sound Transit. A guaranteed ride home program was also put into place, assuring employees who use commute options of a free ride home in case of emergency or illness. Covered bicycle racks and showers also were included in the new building to encourage hardy souls to bicycle to work.
Good planning paid off
In 1998, Expeditors moved to its “new” building
in downtown Seattle. Thanks to a lot of good planning,
most of the employees not only made the move with the
company, but switched to commuting by transit. Providing
FlexPasses instead of parking also proved to be a money
saving decision for the company, since an annual FlexPass
costs less than a parking space.
“There was a lot to be considered when making a move like this,” admits Peter Rose, CEO. “But I truly believe the concerns of our employees were the most important.”
Commuting
program
Results Of 248 employees, 165 ride the bus, 15 carpool, 7 walk, 3 bicycle, and 1 teleworks. |
*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.