Category: Ridesharing

Microsoft Corporation, Corporate Campus
Redmond

• CEO*: Larry Neilson, Senior Director-Real Estate and Facilities
• ETC: Bob Kaplan, Commute Program Administrator

Unique software program helps employees share the ride

With more than 10,000 employees at its corporate headquarters in Redmond, this software developer has taken on the huge task of encouraging its large population to share the ride to work. One of the biggest hurdles to overcome was being able to coordinate the many employees who want to be matched for carpools and/or vanpools. Another problem was employee schedules, which can change on a daily basis.

Microsoft's Bob Kaplan, Commute Program Administrator, and Mary Dixon, Manager of Real Estate and Facilities, accept a Diamond Award for the company's ridesharing efforts.

So what does the world's largest computer software developer do? It writes a software program called RideShare to address the unique needs of Microsoft employees, based on a mapping system that matches employees by their origin and destination addresses. This ridematch program is available to employees on the Microsoft intranet. If an employee is looking for a carpool, he simply enters his address and work hours and a map pops up of employees, carpools, and vanpools that might match the employee's needs. The ridematch site is also an excellent way to promote the entire Microsoft CTR program. Employees are reminded daily of the commute choices they have and notified of any changes to program elements.

In addition to the RideShare site, the Microsoft Commute Program has a website on the intranet. Employees simply type “commute” into their web browser and up pops information on transit, carpooling, vanpooling, shuttle services, the guaranteed ride home program, bicycle and pedestrian facilities, and even congestion information.

Added bus trips cover flexible hours

All employees receive a FlexPass, which covers bus travel on King County Metro. Employees coming from Snohomish County also receive $21 per month towards a Community Transit pass. Microsoft employees are notorious for the hours they put in at work, and a lack of transit service in the evening prevented many employees from taking advantage of the passes. So Bob Kaplan, Commute Program Administrator, worked with King County Metro and succeeded in having bus trips added to help accommodate the wide range of work hours. Initially Microsoft subsidized the additional trips, some of which travel through the Microsoft campus. When ridership reached an agreed upon level, King County Metro resumed responsibility for the cost of the service.

Microsoft also operates a fleet of shuttle vehicles to accommodate employees who get off at nearby park and ride lots or who need to travel around campus or to the other Microsoft sites The shuttles run on fixed schedules as well as being available on demand.

Kaplan promotes ridesharing constantly via e-mail and the web site. It is part of a new employee orientation and mentioned throughout the year in newsletters, brochures, and other promotions. “Management obviously supports CTR,” says Kaplan. “They put a lot of time and resources into developing the commute program, including the RideShare program and the shuttle service. They realize it's good business.”

*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.