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Spare the Air Employer Program Newsletter No. 32 -September 2014
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A picture is worth a thousand words! Encourage employees to carpool together, take transit, or bike to work by posting region-specific Spare the Air posters at your worksite. Posters are available for download, or contact us to order hard copies. 

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STA Commute Tips by County


Each county has extensive resources to help encourage your employees to use alternatives to solo driving. Find out what your county has to offer! 
L3Register Today for the Commuter Benefits Program
The mandatory Commuter Benefits Program registration deadline for Bay Area businesses with 50 or more employees is September 30. Visit  The Bay Area Commuter Benefits page for more information and to register for the program. To request free assistance, click on the "Need Assistance" section for information on your local county contact, or call 511 and say "Commuter Benefits." 
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ArtL3Your Employees Could be Rewarded for Clean Commutes!

Let your employees know they could win tickets to Cirque du Soleil when they record their trips in their 511 Trip Diary. For more information visit 511.

GrantAir District Offers Grants to Reduce Diesel Engine Pollution
The Carl Moyer Memorial Air Quality Standards Attainment Program is a voluntary program that offers grants to owners of heavy-duty vehicles and equipment in order to reduce air pollution emissions from heavy-duty engines.
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Spare the Air - There's an App for That!
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Visit the Apple App Store and Google Play Store to download the FREE Spare the Air apps for alert notifications, local air quality forecasts, podcasts and tools to help reduce air pollution.

Bay Area businesses of all sizes are joining the region-wide effort to support employees using innovative commute alternative programs. If you would like help developing your own program, contact the 511 Employer Assistance program coordinator in your area to schedule a free consultation.

Food Service Partners
At Food Service Partners in South San Francisco, 10-20 percent of the company's 90 employees bike to work every month. While the company also supports carpooling, they focus on biking for three reasons: 1) many employees work varied shifts, so it can be difficult to match carpool buddies; 2) 80 percent of their employees live within ten miles of the facility, so biking is manageable; and 3) the company has employee health and wellness goals which biking supports. 

 

 

Food Service Partners

General Manager Mark Harris's 

commitment to solo driving alternatives is a key reason for the program's success. He discusses work transportation options with new hires and provides training materials in English and Spanish for employees who are game to ride, but have not biked in the city before. In addition, the company offers $100 to each new bicyclist to use towards a helmet or bike and ongoing bike maintenance. Mark is a self-proclaimed recycler of "everything he can lay his hands on" and is often able to use the funds he raises by recycling company materials to cover the costs of the commute incentives. Mark credits the commute incentives program as one reason his branch has a nearly zero percent turnover rate. 

 

City of San Ramon

The City of San Ramon has approximately 240 employees, about 15 percent of which use commute alternatives to work. The City of San Ramon, in concert with 511 Contra Costa provides commute incentives to the City employees, including a quarterly raffle for all employees who used a commute alternative to work. Two employees, chosen at random, receive a $25 gift certificate to their choice of a local San Ramon restaurant or business. Transportation Analyst Darlene Amaral says, "Having this type of incentive program, I noticed employees think more about trying an alternative commute to get to work. They want to be included in the drawing, so there has been an increase of employees

trying an alternative to driving alone. It may not be every day, but employees definitely enjoy having this type of incentive program."

 

County of Alameda


With 9,000 employees, the County of Alameda is one of thelargest employers in the East Bay and manages many facilities that are spread across a large geographic area. The diverse locations allow for multiple types of commute alternatives. One tool the County offers is an enterprise version of Zimride, which helps match employees with similar commute schedules to form carpools.  Internal carpool matching for large organizations is helpful as many employees know only their immediate colleagues in their department - there could be other employees with identical commute schedules and they would never know. To successfully implement the program, the County engaged a large number of employees to sign up so that everyone has a better chance of finding a carpool partner.

 

The County's Clean Commute Program promotes and encourages employee's to try new ways of commuting rather than driving alone. This has consisted of outreach campaigns, such as a March Madness contest where divisions competed to see how many employees would sign up for Zimride. In this contest, different departments were matched against each other every week and "won" by getting more signups than their opponent.  In the end, one division was recognized at a Warriors basketball game and by the Board of Supervisors. As a public agency the County's financial resources can be limited, so it relies on the excitement of friendly competition and departmental pride, public acknowledgement, and the empowerment of highly motivated employees through a "Clean Commute Champs" initiative to encourage participation.

There are many ways to stay informed about Spare the Air alerts. Encourage your employees to follow Spare the Air on their preferred social media platform. They can receive Spare the Air alerts directly, along with helpful tips on commute alternatives.
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To make it easy for you, here is sample text to include in your next employee email or newsletter:
Spare the Air alerts tell us when air quality is forecast to be unhealthy. Stay up-to-date, find helpful commute tips and be in the know on clean air topics. Follow Spare the Air on
Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, Pinterest, Four Square, or YouTube

Art3Multi-Modal Commuter

Chris Weeks, Bishop Ranch

 

When Chris Weeks finally had enough of a stressful, dangerous commute from Santa Cruz to the Peninsula, he became a commuter convert. His dedication to alternative commuting led to him becoming a transportation planner so he could help other people avoid such trips.


Each day Chris may bike 

roundtrip, or bike to work and take his bike on the bus for the trip home from his

 job as Director of Transportation for Bishop Ranch. When he wants to get some reading done during his commute, he rides his bike to BART.


Chris likes the flexibility to switch up his commute; he enjoys seeing wildlife in the morning on his bike ride, and people watching on BART and the bus.


His workplace supports these choices through a variety of services. To get to a meeting during the day he uses an electric BMW through Drive Now's point-to-point carsharing. Or if he needs to get to BART quickly he uses Carma (real-time carpooling) to let others in the business park know he is looking for a ride to the station. He gets there quickly and the driver uses the HOV lane all the way.


He is also excited about the new bike share program, launching soon at Bishop Ranch. When he needs to go somewhere that's a little too far to walk he will be able to check out a bike with his Clipper Card.


Chris has one recommendation for anyone who wants to try something other than driving alone to work. "Get a Clipper Card and always have some money on it. Then, you have the keys to public transit in your wallet all the time."

 

Share your Commuter Convert Story here.

 

What value does your company gain from offering 

Clipper Card

commuter benefits to your employees? Do the offerings enhance your recruitment process, or help your employees arrive at work rested and less stressed? Do you have quantifiable measurements or comments from employees that demonstrate the value these benefits are bringing the company? Email us with your story and you'll be entered to win a prize pack of five $15 Clipper cards to use as incentives for your employees! 

Congratulations to the City of San Ramon, winner of the March Breeze survey. The City of San Ramon won a prize pack of Clipper cards for sharing their employee commute incentives program.

If you have any questions or comments on this Breeze issue or the Employer Program, please contact Stephanie Anderson at sanderson@communityfocus.org