Category: Ridesharing

Kenworth Truck Company,
Renton

• CEO*: Ted Fick, Plant Manager
• PM: Sharon Duffy, Human Resources Manager
• ETC: Toni Findlay, Human Resources Assistant

Shuttle service gives big boost to CTR program

This truck manufacturing company has worked hard to encourage its employees to commute any way but alone in their cars. But a big problem has always been the lack of transit service to the site.

In September 1996, the City of Renton and King County Metro began planning a shuttle service to downtown Renton and work sites not served by regular, fixed-route transit. From the beginning, Kenworth Truck participated in the planning process. A route was designed to serve downtown Renton, the Rainier Avenue shopping district, the northern Renton neighborhood, the Renton Transit Center, and 18 of Renton's largest employment sites, including Kenworth. Everything fell into place except for one factor. By union contract, there needed to be a place for the shuttle to layover and the driver to have access to restroom facilities. Management at Kenworth stepped forward and turned several of its SOV parking spaces into a layover spot for the shuttle and allowed the driver access to the plant's restroom.

Now Kenworth's commute trip reduction program benefits from those key commitments which made the shuttle possible.

RUSH (Renton Urban Shuttle) has become the most successful shuttle service in King County in terms of both overall ridership and efficiency. The shuttle runs every 15 minutes and is free, making it popular with commuters, shoppers, and employees on lunch breaks. Average ridership at the end of 1998 was over 500 riders per day. Kenworth employees now enjoy frequent and convenient shuttle service from the Transit Center to the work site. And because the shuttle services downtown Renton and the Rainier Avenue shopping district, employees can also run errands, shop, and go out to lunch, all without the need of having a car at work.

If there are business errands or meetings to attend at locations not served by the shuttle, employees can use one of Kenworth's several fleet vehicles, again eliminating the need to drive their personal vehicles and providing an incentive to share the ride to work.

Subsidies increased

Kenworth's progress toward meeting its CTR goal was so good in 1997 the company was not required to improve its CTR program in 1998. However, management decided more could be done, so the amount of subsidies paid for every mode of alternative commuting was increased. Bus passes and ferry tickets are now 50% subsidized. If employees ride a bicycle, walk, or commute by motorcycle, they receive $20 per month. For carpools of three of more, each member receives $20 per month, as do vanpool drivers. Vanpool riders are reimbursed for 50% of their fares.

Parking is free, but preferred parking, which is close to the plant and under cover, is given to carpools, vanpools, and bicycles. All of these elements have resulted in strong support of alternate commute modes from Kenworth employees.

*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.