Subsidies and communication add up to Diamond Award
Group Health Cooperative is the nation’s second largest member-driven nonprofit health care system providing health care in Washington. The company has a commitment to employees and to the communities it serves to reduce pollution. The organization makes a rigorous effort to encourage employees to use alternative modes of getting to work rather than resorting to driving alone. It is this effort that has earned Group Health Cooperative a Diamond Award for leadership.

Trammell Crow contracts to support transportation services at all Group Health commute trip reduction worksites. A comprehensive program was designed and implemented several years ago to meet the varied needs of employees and includes a subsidized Flexpass covering regional buses, trains and vanpools. The employer’s intranet site has been effective in promoting and providing information on the program. Semi-annual Transportation Fairs are held at all CTR-affected worksites including the Administrative and Operations Center campus in Tukwila to provide employees with information about their commute options. FlexPass sales have steadily increased as more employees utilize Sounder, due to the availability of the VanShare connections.

ETC Amalia Rubio says, "Group Health’s program is successful for two reasons. First they provide a wide variety of subsidies, which are of substantial amounts. Second, effective communications are provided to employees on a regular basis."

*Some definitions: An "ETC" is the staff-level employee transportation coordinator responsible for the daily administration of the transportation program. "SOV" stands for single-occupant vehicle, and "CTR" for commute trip reduction.