Research Triangle Park, N.C. - The Triangle Transit Authority today honored Durham County businesses that have excelled in promoting commuting alternatives to the      single-occupant vehicle to their employees.  The awards ceremony took place at the Radisson Governor’s Inn in Research Triangle Park.

TTA administers the Commute Trip Reduction (CTR) Ordinance enacted by the Durham County Board of Commissioners in 1999.  The aim of CTR is to improve the quality of life by reducing traffic congestion, air pollution, and fuel consumption.  All companies in Durham employing 100 or more people are covered by the ordinance.  To achieve ordinance goals, employers develop programs that encourage employees who drive alone to work to consider alternatives modes such as buses, vanpools, carpools, biking or walking.  Some employers also elect to have telecommute options for some employees.

Ellen Reckhow, Chair of the Durham County Board of Commissioners congratulated the employers meeting compliance standards and receiving awards.  Reckhow also serves on the TTA Board of Directors and was a member of the committee that drafted the ordinance in 1999, adopted by the Durham Board.

Reckhow thanked the businesses for continuing to promote alternatives to the single occupied vehicle. She told the group that compared with last year, the mode shifts from driving alone reported in the survey resulted in a reduction of an additional 50,000 vehicle miles per day, or 12.5 million vehicle miles per year. The percentage of drive alone commute trips has continued to fall from 85.2% in 2004-2005 to 84.4% in 2005-2006 to 82.5% in 2006-2007. The results were tabulated from the commute trips of approximately 71,500 employees in 2007.

Here are the 2007 Award Winners:

Innovator Awards

Small Company

CATO Research

Margaret Schubert – Employee Transportation Coordinator

140 Employees

CATO continues to show leadership and innovation in order to encourage commuting mode alternatives to single occupancy vehicle use.  Subsidies are offered for those employees who use transit or vanpools.  Currently, employees who bike are allowed to bring their bikes into the building for security purposes.  Lockers and showers are provided.

Employees are notified of ozone action days.  This year this year, an ozone action day lunch group was formed to encourage even those who drive their car to work to remain at the worksite on Air Quality Action Days.

CATO participates in the SmartCommute Challenge, and maintains and updates an employee Commute Trip Reduction website. In some positions, employees are allowed to work out telecommute arrangements with their supervisor. Approximately 15% of employees use alternative means of commuting.  This employer carries the Best Workplace for Commuters designation.

     Medium Company

Triangle Orthopaedic Association

Karen McClenny – Employee Transportation Coordinator

262 Employees

TOA Commute is the name of the Travel Reduction Program with Triangle Orthopaedic Associates. To support travel reduction, the ETC disseminates information about the alternative modes of transportation to its employees by the following methods: 

• Company-wide e-mails to alert employees about ozone action days
• Special transit-related events
• Reminding them about the trip reduction goals the company has set

The TOA website provides links to TTA, DATA, and EPA, with an emphasis on both transit opportunities, as well as the ability for online rideshare matching.

Information about trip reduction goals and options are included during employee orientation.  Starting this year, convenient parking spaces have been reserved for carpoolers on both sides of their building at William Penn Plaza.  Additionally, a monthly gift card drawing for carpoolers is in the works.

A really innovative practice TOA recently started is placing new employees at the company location nearest their home in order to reduce their time on the highway.  Of course, this practice is dependent on each location having the employees they need in appropriate positions, but it is a unique way to reduce the work-related commute, and its impact will increase over time.

Currently 8.5% of TOA employees are commuting by methods other than the single-occupancy vehicle with a goal of a 3% increase next year.

Large Company

Blue Cross Blue Shield North Carolina

Mike Keohane – Employee Transportation Coordinator

1800 Employees (in Durham)

Because of the need to attract workers from surrounding counties, BCBS has always been innovative in their attention to employee transportation patterns, recognizing that commuting is a human resources issue.  Back in the 80’s, BCBS started their own Guaranteed Ride Home and a vanpool program.  A unique feature of their vanpool program is that the van pool rider fees are deducted from their payroll check.  The result is that payment is convenient for the rider, and that the driver does not have to collect money and maintain rider financial records.  BCBS also pays the $150 deposit on the vanpool vehicle. 

The company not only provides reserved parking for vanpools and carpools, it is the very best parking available on the premises.  The majority of workers routinely pass these parking sites as they enter the building.  The vanpool program is featured regularly in the employee daily online newsletter.

BCBS has a continually expanding Concierge Club.  This service includes car washes, car oil changes (enabling even those who drive alone not to have to leave at lunch); dry cleaning pickup, errand running, DVD rentals, and other services.

BCBS participates in the Smart Commute Challenge and hosts on-site events to promote transit and rideshare. During this past year, BCBS has received the Best Workplaces for Commuters designation and has opened an onsite emergency day care for children. 

Approximately 19% of BCBS employees use an alternative transportation mode at least part of the time.

Leadership Awards

Small Company

BD Technologies

Horace Rozier – Employee Transportation Coordinator

250 Employees

BD Technologies continues to leverage the programs and services of TTA and SmartCommute.  An annual participant and sponsor for the Smart Commute Challenge, over 60% of their employees participated in the last fall’s event.

Showers and clothes lockers are available and bike lockers were installed last year. This employer offers a cafeteria, an exercise room, pedestrian trails, a stamp machine, and on-site shipping for packages.

About 13% of employees use alternatives at least part of the time.  Now that TTA has 7 passenger vehicles, BD Technologies is interested in developing a vanpool program and discussing incentives and subsidies for vanpool riders and drivers.

Medium Company

Bayer CropScience

Beth Adams – Employee Transportation Coordinator

420 Employees

Over the past year, Bayer CropScience has been hard at work to make their employees more aware of alternative commute options, and to help them get started on an option of their choice.  The company wants to increase the number of their employees who use transportation other than single occupancy vehicles.

Their work included providing CTR information during new employee orientation, having bus, vanpool, and other alternative transportation materials available on site, as well as creating an intranet site pertaining to transportation and CTR.  Employees are notified of ozone action days. The company participated in the Smart Commute Challenge and held an onsite Health Fair.

Bayer CropScience has a cafeteria, a cash machine, a stamp machine, and an exercise room; showers and lockers also are available.  Their parking lot recently has been repaved enabling them to offer reserved parking for carpools and vanpools as needed.

This past fall’s survey showed about 9.5 % of their employees commuting by modes other than by single occupancy vehicles.  Through their current emphasis on the CTR, they hope to show at least 1 to 2 % increase in the use of commuting alternatives this coming year.  The ETC has formed a small employee committee to help address the issue of getting employees interested in transit and rideshare.  They hope to increase the number of employees serving on the committee in order to promote interest on an employee-to-employee basis.

Large Company

RTI International

Jennifer Greer – Employee Transportation Coordinator

2247 Employees (in Durham County)

RTI works continuously to increase the frequency of communications to their employees about the commuting options available to them.  CTR information is provided on bulletin boards, through promotional materials, email messages, a website, and an employee newsletter.  CTR information also is a part of new employee orientation.

The RTI worksite has bike trails, pedestrian trails, a cafeteria, child care, cash and stamp machines.  In addition, campus transportation and dry cleaning pick-up and delivery are provided.

The company offers up to a $100 monthly subsidy for transit or vanpooling.  RTI participates in the SmartCommute Challenge as both a participant and a sponsor, and has an annual onsite event to educate their employees about the commuting alternatives available.

Teleworking is encouraged by RTI and about 4.5% of their employees do telecommute.  Flextime arrangements also may be made by workers and managers.  Including the teleworkers, about 15% of RTI employees are using alternatives commuting modes at least part of the time.   This employer carries the BWC designation.

Employee Transportation Coordinators of the Year

Small Company

Richard Cravener – Employee Transportation Coordinator

CIIT Centers for Health Research

120 Employees

Through on-going efforts, Richard Cravener has been able to build and maintain a comprehensive CTR reduction program.  New employee orientation includes information about commuting options and encourages new employees to consider transportation alternatives. Their internet site offers links to TTA and SmartCommute, and this employer is an annual SmartCommute Challenge participant.  E-mail messages and bulletin board announcements keep employees informed on an on-going basis.  Bike racks, lockers and showers are available, as is a cafeteria.

Two years ago, our survey showed 16% of CIIT employees participating in alternative commute modes.  This year’s figures reflected an increase in that number to over 17%, with more than 15% carpooling.

      Medium Company

David Broad – Employee Transportation Coordinator

BASF Corporation

650 Employees

David Broad has been serving in this capacity since 2002.  In the last five years, he has build a solid program and continues to put forth the effort to keep the program strong and stable.

This company offers subsidies for carpooling and vanpooling.  Flex-time work schedules are available, and telecommuting can be arranged on a case-by-case basis.

Posters promoting CTR are posted in the mailroom and the cafeteria.  Also, all users receive e-mails about commute options.  New employee orientation provides information about the CTR program.  This employer participates in the SmartCommute Challenge, and annually conducts an on-site promotional event to promote commuting options.  This employer also has campus shuttle services, and carries the Best Workplace for Commuters designation.

                                                 Large Company

Richard Sloane – Employee Transportation Coordinator

National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)

1000 Employees

Richard Sloane is so dedicated to his job that if you call him and get his voice mail, you also will get an environmental message that encourages alternative transportation, as well as making other environmentally friendly suggestions.

This employer provides vanpool and transit subsidies; has flexible work hours and telecommute options.

It would be impossible to work for this employer and not know about CTR options because they are promoted through new employee orientation; summaries of activities given to all employees; reports/presentations made to management; e-mail messages; newsletters; and posters.  This company participates in the SmartCommute Challenge and has on-site transportation fairs.

NIEHS's Earth Week and Earth Day event is truly outstanding.  A photography contest for employees is held.  This event showcases photos of the natural wonders of the world, from bugs to sweeping landscapes, from the inner beauty of a wild flower to the thundering majesty of Niagara Falls.  Such an event encourages viewers to do everything within their power to preserve the beauty of the earth.

In addition to carrying the Best Workplace for Commuters designation, this company also has been inducted into the North Carolina Chapter of the National Wildlife Federation, known as W.A.I.T., which means Wildlife and Industry Working Together.

More than 26% of this company’s employees use commuting alternatives, including telecommuting.

TTA is a regional public transportation provider, offering a wide variety of transit and vanpool services to North Carolina's Triangle Region and outlying counties. Regional bus and shuttle service is available to Apex, Cary, Chapel Hill, Durham, Garner, Hillsborough, RDU International Airport, Research Triangle Park and Raleigh.

The Triangle Transit Authority also provides commuter resources and hosts www.rideTTA.org and www.GoTriangle.org, on-line resources for public transportation information in the Triangle.  

For more information, visit www.rideTTA.org or call (919) 549-9999.