Commuter Challenge, in partnership with federal, state and local governments, has awarded King and Snohomish County employers over $717,000 in grant funds to implement or enhance commute trip reduction projects in an effort to reduce thousands of commute trips each month. Local employers eligible for the grants are those affected by the state Commute Trip Reduction Law and other work sites that voluntarily comply with the law.
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PATH
employees use Flexcar for business |
Employer Services Grant recipient profile Employer: |
Location:
New PATH Building, Seattle
Projects
and Grant Awards:
• FlexPass
Enhancement Project - $7,052
• Flexcar
Project - $13,200
Company
Mission:
PATH is an international public health organization dedicated to improving
the health and well-being of vulnerable populations. PATH develops innovative
technologies and culturally appropriate interventions aimed at preventing
disease, particularly among women and children.
Business
Issues:
PATH recently
moved to a new location that provides ample free parking and lacks attractive
transit or walking options for business or personal trips during the day.
While many employees took advantage of an existing FlexPass program at
the former location, PATH was concerned that the abundance of parking
and different transit routes at the new site would encourage those who
might otherwise commute by bus to go back to driving alone.
Project Description:
The goals of PATH's FlexPass enhancement project were to expand an existing
FlexPass program to additional employees and increase internal FlexPass
promotion to encourage continued use of commute options after the business
relocated in February 2002. PATH also implemented a new Flexcar program
for employees' business and personal use during the day, thus negating
the need for employees to have their own cars available. A parking space
for the Flexcar vehicle, and development of promotional materials are
included.
Program Benefits:
PATH has found that providing every employee with a FlexPass at no cost
to the employee is actually more cost effective than the previous commute
benefit plan that offered a 50% transit subsidy "on demand."
With the help of the grant funds, the monthly cost to PATH for the FlexPass
program is less than $3 per employee. Employees have enthusiastically
received both the expanded FlexPass and new Flexcar options, with over
half of PATH's 170 employees participating in one or more of the commuter
programs, including the organization's president and a vice president.
Overall, PATH has been able to reduce employee SOV trips by 17% in the
first two months of the programs, putting them well on their way to their
goal of an SOV rate of 50% or less by year's end.