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"How
To Guide"
For Developing A SMART
COMMUTE PROGRAM
For Your Work Site
Reduce
the Cost and Stress of
Drive-Alone Commuting
Westchester County
Department of Transportation
Step
1:
Understanding
SMART COMMUTE Programs
What is Westchester’s SMART COMMUTE
Program ?
Many of
Westchester County’s employers and building owners and managers are realizing
that traffic congestion is a growing problem having negative impacts on the
business community and our quality of life.
The
Westchester County Department of Transportation has developed Westchester’s
SMART COMMUTE Program to alert both employers, building owners and managers and
their employees and tenants of various strategies to increase the use of transit
and other alternatives in order to help reduce drive-alone commuting.
Over
100 employers are enrolled in the Program and receive free commuting benefits
for employees and others traveling to their location, including:
- Transportation
Information Fairs that can be held at your work site.
- The
$Commute-n-Save Program$ that gets employees to work using pre-tax salary
dollars, and saves employers on payroll related taxes.
- A
Commute Information Rack with restocking service to make transit schedules
available at your location.
- Transportation
Information Kits for new employees.
For
more information about the Program or to become a member,
please call
(914) 995-4444 or access our website at www.westchestergov.com/smartcommute
What is a
“Work Site SMART COMMUTE Program” ?
A
“Work Site SMART COMMUTE Program” is an array of strategies implemented at
an employment location that are designed to promote and encourage employees or
tenants to consider and use alternatives to driving-alone to work.
To
be most effective, the program should enjoy management support from the very
top. Additionally, a staff person
at the work location should be assigned “SMART COMMUTE Program”
responsibilities that only needs to be just a part of his or her assigned work.
What are
“Commute Alternatives” ?
“Commute
alternatives” are the various ways of getting to and from work.
Employees at your work site select the way they commute based on their
work hours, location of the work site, the nature of their work, the need to do
personal errands and, of course, the cost.
Employers
can help employees find a “SMARTer” way to get to work with the help of
Westchester’s SMART COMMUTE Program which can provide employees with specific
information about transit, carpooling, vanpooling, and other options.
Employers can also sponsor programs such as telecommuting, alternate work
schedules, a guaranteed ride home program, and incentives to promote “Commute
Alternatives”.
Why Commute Alternatives?
Growing traffic congestion threatens our quality of life. Traffic congestion is a major problem nationwide as
frustrated businesses and commuters waste an astonishing $72 billion in fuel and
time each year. Traffic congestion
can waste energy; delay the delivery of goods and services; result in employee
tardiness; create stress; pollute the air and raise the cost of both living and
doing business in our County.
Benefits
of a SMART COMMUTE Program at Your Work Site
Studies
show that employer involvement greatly improves the use of commute alternatives
among employees. Everybody wins!
Your
Company/Organization wins through:
- Improved
employee productivity
- Improved
morale
- Easier
recruitment and retention
- Reduced
parking and office space needs/costs
- Reduced
absenteeism and late arrivals
- Public
recognition as a good corporate citizen
Your
Employees win through:
- Reduced commuting
time and expense
- Reduced wear and
tear on personal vehicles
- Less stress
- Productive use of
time while taking transit or ridesharing
- Flexible work
schedules & arrangements
Our
Community wins through:
- Easier
travel on streets and highways
- Increased
economic vitality
- Economic
development benefits
- Improved
overall quality of life
Step
2:
Identifying
Alternatives to Driving Alone:
What’s
Best for your Work Site?
To
identify the best alternatives to drive-alone commuting for your work site,
start at the first box, if yes, go to the next box.
Now,
you have identified the best commute alternatives for your work site.
Next, you need to build your work site SMART COMMUTE Program by
developing and implementing strategies to maximize use of these alternatives by
employees.
Step
3:
Learning What’s Available in Westchester
Transit
For
many commuters, public transit can be the preferred choice.
Use of public transit helps employees to arrive relaxed and ready to
work, free of traffic and driving-related stress.
For commuters to work locations in Westchester County, the many transit
options listed below may provide a “SMARTer” way to get to work!
- The
Bee-Line System
is Westchester’s bus transit network with more than 60 routes.
Major service hubs for the system include the White Plains
TransCenter and the downtown areas of Yonkers, Mt. Vernon and New Rochelle.
The Bee-Line System primarily serves Westchester County but also
includes connecting services to Bronx subways, Metro-North trains, Transport
of Rockland’s Tappan ZEExpress; Connecticut Transit’s I-Bus, and transit
from Putnam, Dutchess, and Orange Counties.
Among the Bee-Line’s routes are several “shuttle loops” -
providing connections to major employment centers and train station in the
County. Bee-Line ParaTransit
provides curb-to-curb service for people with disabilities. For
more information, call (914) 813-7777.
- MTA
Metro-North Railroad is
the second largest commuter railroad in the country, with three lines
serving Westchester County: the Hudson, Harlem and New Haven Lines.
Metro-North’s hub is Grand Central Terminal in Midtown Manhattan.
For schedule, fare or other information, call 1-800-METRO-INFO
(638-7646) or visit Metro-North’s web site at www.mta.nyc.ny.us
- The
TAPPAN ZEExpress Operated by Transport of Rockland
is a commuter bus service operating Monday through Friday from Rockland
County to Tarrytown and White Plains. Call
Transport of Rockland at (845) 364-3333 for route, fare, and schedule
information and the location of Super Saver Ticket outlets.
- The
I-Bus Stamford-White Plains Express Operated by CTTransit
provides service in both directions connecting Stamford and White Plains.
Travel time is approximately on half-hour in each direction.
Service is provided on weekdays throughout the day.
Call CTTransit at 1-888-BUS-RIDE (287-7433) toll-free from area codes
203 and 914 for schedule information, fare options and ticket sale
locations.
-
Poughkeepsie-White
Plains Express Bus Operated by Leprechaun Lines
from Dutchess and Putnam counties to the Westchester Medical Center and
downtown White Plains. There
are frequent trips in both the morning and the afternoon.
For more information, call Leprechaun Lines at (845) 565-7900 or
(800) 624-4217.
-
Orange-Westchester
Link -
The OWL Bus Operated by ShortLine offers daily express commuter bus service
from Orange County to various locations in Tarrytown and White Plains.
There is also a stop at the Nanuet park-and-ride lot at Exit 14 of
the New York State Thruway in Rockland County.
There are several trips in both the morning and the afternoon. Call ShortLine at 1-800-499-3541 for route, fare and
schedule information.
- Putnam
Area Rapid Transit (PART)
is Putnam County’s bus transit system, operating five transit routes and
the county’s paratransit service for eligible disabled persons. Call PART
at (845) 878-RIDE (7433) for route, fare, and schedule information.
- MTA
New York City Transit Subways & Buses -
Several MTA bus routes and subway lines make connections with Bee-Line
System buses in the Bronx and with the Bee-Line System’s BxM4C in
Manhattan. Call MTA New York
City Transit at (718) 330-1234 of visit the web site at www.mta.nyc.ny.us
for further information. For information on MetroCard, call 1-800-METROCARD
(638-7622).
Carpooling
This
“SMART COMMUTE” choice reduces the number of cars on the road and in your
company parking lot. Sharing a ride
can save an employee up to $1,500 a year by lowering gasoline bills, insurance
costs, and car maintenance.
Those
who carpool can take advantage of special HOV lanes at the Tappan Zee Bridge
toll plaza, for example, to reach their destinations faster and pay reduced
tolls. They can choose to read,
sleep or chat when they are not behind the wheel.
Carpooling
can be encouraged through computerized matching of riders with the same needs
and through company involvement in ridesharing programs.
For more information and assistance about
helping employees who may be interested in carpooling, call MetroPool’s
Westchester Representative at (914) 993-0649 or
1-800-FIND-RIDE.
Vanpooling
Full-size
vans and minivans carrying 7–15 passengers are the next step up from carpools.
The vehicles may be company owned or leased from a private vanpool
company.
MetroPool
can provide full assistance to employees within a company who wish to form a
vanpool by holding information and organizational meetings. At these meetings,
potential vanpool groups are identified, routes are planned and the program and
commitment are clearly explained.
To
get information and assistance about assisting employees who may be interested
in vanpooling, call MetroPool’s Westchester Representative at (914) 993-0649
or
1-800-FIND-RIDE.
Telecommuting
With
Telecommuting (also called Telework), employees work at home or at a satellite
office or telework center near home one or more days a week, instead of
commuting to the main office. Telecommuting
can eliminate the commute trip entirely if the employee is working from home.
If a nearby telecenter is being utilized, this can significantly reduce
the employee’s commute time and distance.
Employees can be linked to the workplace by computer and modem or simply
can do work that requires nothing more than a telephone.
Employees can telecommute full-time or just a few days a month.
For more information
about setting up a Telecommuting program at your work site, contact
Westchester’s SMART COMMUTE Program at (914) 995-4444.
Alternative Work Schedules
An
Alternative Work Schedule program (compressed work week, flextime, staggered
hours) can be beneficial in a number of ways.
It can provide versatility. Enabling employees to more conveniently use
transit and rideshare options, as well as avoid traffic congestion and transit
crowding. It can also be an
attractive employee recruitment tool that allows employees to work around
childcare or school schedules. Employees
tend to view Alternative Work Schedule programs as a highly desirable benefit.
For more information about setting up an
Alternative Work Schedule program, contact Westchester’s SMART COMMUTE Program
at (914) 995-4444.
Biking & Walking
Approximately
five percent of the population live within walking distance of their work
location and 20 percent live within biking distance. Walking or biking need not
be done on a daily basis to be a valuable commute option; indeed, many employees
walk or bike only a few days a week during the warmer months of the year.
Employers interested in promoting walking and biking can do so by
providing bicycle storage, showers and locker rooms, and by allowing employees
who walk or bike to dress casually on those days.
The
Westchester County Department of Transportation can provide technical assistance
to employers interested in improving pedestrian and bicycle access to their work
sites.
For more information, contact
Westchester’s SMART COMMUTE Program at
(914) 995-4444.
Step
4:
Choosing The Strategies for Your Program & Knowing Who to Contact for
Help
Listed
below are a number of strategies that can be used to develop your “Work Site
SMART COMMUTE Program”.
Guaranteed
Ride Home: (GRH)
A
Guaranteed Ride Home (GRH) program, also known as an Emergency Ride Home
program, can significantly increase employee participation in transit use and
ridesharing by allaying an employee’s concerns about getting home in an
emergency (such as when a child is sick). While
it is entirely up to the employer to establish eligibility requirements for a
work site’s GRH program, most programs consider such things as the breakdown
of a rideshare vehicle, missing a carpool or the last bus due to unscheduled
overtime, or sudden illness to be bona fide reasons for using the GRH program.
Because
most GRH programs work on a voucher system (where arrangements are made with a
transportation provider for billing), usage can be easily tracked.
This can also discourage abuse since employees know that their usage is
recorded. An alternative is to ask
employees to pay the provider for the ride home and be reimbursed later.
In either case, what is surprising to most employers is how little a GRH
program is actually used. It is a
remarkably effective and cost-efficient program for promoting the use of transit
and ridesharing. A turnkey GRH
program that Westchester employers can join is available through MetroPool, Inc.
For more information, contact
MetroPool’s Westchester Representative at
(914) 993-0649 or 1-800-FIND-RIDE.
The
$Commute-n-Save$ Program (TransitChek)
Commuters
can save up to $2,000 a year by using pre-tax dollars for commutation costs if
they are getting to work by bus, rail, ferry, subway or eligible vanpool!
For more information, contact Westchester’s SMART COMMUTE Program at
(914) 285-4444 and ask about $Commute-n-Save$, or access our website at
Commuters
can save up to $2,000 a year by using pre-tax dollars for commutation costs if
they are getting to work by bus, rail, ferry, subway or eligible vanpool!
For more information, contact Westchester’s SMART COMMUTE Program at
(914) 285-4444 and ask about $Commute-n-Save$, or access our website at www.westchestergov.com/smartcommute
Management Support/Positive Attitude
This
is an in-house requirement for any program to succeed.
High-level management support helps to ensure employee confidence in a
commutation program. Also, the manner in which a new program is conveyed can be
the difference between success and failure.
Maintaining an enthusiastic, helpful attitude is the best way to present
potential commute alternatives to employees.
Remember, Westchester’s SMART COMMUTE Program is voluntary for
employees as well as employers, so employees should never be pushed into
changing commute modes.
Parking Management Strategies
Parking
strategies can be structured to provide incentives to employees who carpool or
vanpool, or to encourage the use of transit.
Measures can include parking charges, preferential parking for car and
vanpools, reduced parking costs for car and vanpools, and reduced parking
supply. For more information and to
explore possibilities at your work site, contact Westchester’s SMART COMMUTE
Program at (914) 995-4444 or access our website at www.westchestergov.com/smartcommute.
Incentives/Awards/Recognition
Incentives
reward an employee’s choice to use a commute alternative.
Incentives may be small or large and may include TransitChek vouchers,
preferred parking, free lunches, movie passes, oil changes, car wash coupons,
days off, gift certificates, etc.
Most
people enjoy being recognized for their efforts. A simple way to maintain employee participation in using
commute alternatives is to reward them with certificates or awards of some kind
for regular participation over an extended period of time.
Employees can also be recognized in company newsletters, through
designations such as “Commuter of the Month,” where the employee’s picture
is posted in a common area, or an annual recognition lunch or picnic.
On-Site Facilities/Services
Provision
of facilities like bike racks and showers and services such as postal, dry
cleaning pick-up/delivery, banking, food services, sundry shops, direct payroll
deposit, shoe repair pick-up, etc. will help eliminate the need for employees to
drive alone. Local businesses are
often willing to make arrangements with employers or building managers to
provide these types of services.
Trip Planning Service for Individuals
Your
employees can receive an Individual Trip Plan for their commute.
This Trip Plan details specific transit routes or other options.
If appropriate, transit timetables are sent out with the Plan.
To access this service, contact Westchester’s SMART COMMUTE Program at
(914) 995-4444.
Ride Matching & Vanpool Organizing Assistance
You
can host and schedule a meeting to bring Metro-Pool’s Westchester
Representative to your work site! Employees can learn more about car and
vanpooling, and on-site assistance can be provided in matching and organizing
interested participants. Call MetroPool in Westchester at (914) 993-0649 or
1-800-FIND-RIDE.
New Employee Commute Information Kits
You
can obtain a supply of New Employee Commute Information Kits to distribute to
newly hired staff by contacting Westchester’s SMART COMMUTE Program at
(914)
9985-4444. These kits contain
detailed information about transportation services available to Westchester
commuters as well as free “try transit” bus tickets that can be used
on any route of the Bee-Line System.
Employer-provided Shuttles to/from Transit Stops
If
the distance between your work site and nearby transit is too great for most
people to walk, your organization may want to consider offering employees a
shuttle (usually a van) to/from nearby transit stops or stations.
A company-owned vehicle may be used for the service, or it may be
contracted with a private bus operator. A list of private shuttle providers is
available through Westchester’s SMART COMMUTE Program by calling (914)
995-4444.
Marketing Your Program
There
are a host of ways to market your “Work Site SMART COMMUTE Program”
including the following: newsletters,
posters, e-mail bulletins, fliers, transportation fairs, display racks, award
events, etc. Upon your request,
Westchester’s SMART COMMUTE Program can provide you with the two turn key
services noted below.
Just call
(914) 995-4444.
Transportation
Information Fairs
A Transportation Fair at your work site will be tailored to your location and
may be as big or as small as you like. You
may want to combine the Fair with another event, such as a Health Fair,
Environment Day, or Site-Services Day. A
representative from Westchester’s SMART COMMUTE Program will attend along with
representatives from appropriate transportation providers.
Tables will be set up in a common area of your work site, usually during
lunch hour, and employees can learn about their commute options in a casual
atmosphere. Westchester’s SMART
COMMUTE Program will provide posters to promote the Fair prior to the selected
date and will set-up on the day of the event.
To encourage attendance, employers often provide refreshments.
It’s that simple. It’s fun! It’s
a valuable benefit! It’s Free!
Commute
Information Racks
Commute Information Racks are display units, large or small depending on your
needs, that are filled with transit schedules and other commute brochures
appropriate to your work site. Keeping
your rack stocked and up to date is simple.
This also, is a free service!
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