University
North Employers Benefit from Commuter Assistance Days
In
April, various University North employers held successful Commuter
Assistance Days, where staff from UNTI and Bay Area Commuter
Services (BACS) visited worksites to help employees determine their
commute alternatives.
Employees
at various worksites within Hidden River and Telecom Parkways,
learned about carpooling, vanpooling, and bicycling to work, as
alternatives to driving alone.
About
50 employees registered with BACS' regional rideshare database and
soon after received "match lists" with the names and
contact information of others in the database with similar commutes,
including similar begin and end work times, home locations, and work
locations.
Those interested in vanpooling will be contacted by staff
from Bay Area Vanpool, who will help them determine the possibility
of joining an existing vanpool or of forming a new one.
Employees
who already use a commute alternative were informed about the
Guaranteed Ride Home Program, which gives participants who utilize
an alternative at least two times per week up to 8 free taxi rides
from work to home, in case of an emergency or unexpected overtime
that prevents them from using the alternative.
Employee
Benefits:
By facilitating awareness of commute alternatives, employers
are offering employees an opportunity to reduce driving costs and to
improve the use of the time they normally spend driving.
Employer
Benefits:
The availability of commute alternatives may improve an employers
ability to recruit new employees and retain existing employees, as
the pool of people now willing, or able, to make the work commute
increases.
Contact
UNTI to schedule a Commuter Assistance Day at your worksite.
Florida
Traffic Law Defines Driver Responsibilities Toward Pedestrians
To
help make the University North area more pedestrian friendly, and
encourage walking as a commute alternative, it is important that
motorists know and understand their responsibilities towards
pedestrians.
Some of these responsibilities, as specified by Florida
Traffic Laws, are described below:
As
always, motorists should drive safely, stay alert, and share the
road with both pedestrians and bicyclists.
Source:
Florida NETS "Traffic Safety Points"
Employers
to Gain Recognition for Offering Commuter Choice Programs
UNTI,
other area transportation service providers, and regional air
quality agencies are developing programs that will publicly
recognize employers that offer commuter benefits to their employees.
Spotlights
on UNTI's website will identify University North employers
with successful Commuter Choice programs.
Employers with such programs will also be eligible for
regional awards and public recognition.
The
national "Standard of Excellence"
for Commuter Choice programs has been established by the Commuter
Choice Leadership Initiative, a joint venture between the U.S. EPA
and the U.S. DOT.
More information on this program can be obtained at www.commuterchoice.gov.
Employers
that offer commute alternative programs but are unable to meet the
national "Standard of Excellence" will be eligible for
regional recognition.
At
a minimum, employer programs need to include the following to
receive recognition:
-
A
designated
point of contact who attends a free commuter assistance
workshop.
-
Centralized
commuter benefit information, i.e. commuter assistance board or
website.
-
Promotion
of commute alternatives to all employees at new employee
orientations, quarterly events, by email, etc.
-
Facilitation
of ozone alert notification.
|
Greater
recognition is given to employers offering programs that promote
ridesharing, transit, telecommuting, compressed or staggered work
weeks, bicycling, or walking.
For
assistance in developing programs eligible for recognition, please
contact UNTI .
Transit
in the News
Ridership Growth Outpaces VMT Growth
An
increase in the number of Americans commuting by buses, subways, and
trains has contributed to a two percent increase in passenger trips
over the past year, to 9.5 billion, according to the American Public
Transportation Association.
Federal
Highway Administration statistics, however, show only a one percent
increase in vehicles miles traveled between 2000 and 2001, to 2.78
trillion.
While
most travel across the nation is still by car, commuting by transit
is growing in popularity in many areas, especially where government
investment has translated into new routes and equipment.
For example,
Los Angeles, Denver, and the Washington area all reported
increases in ridership, of 15, 6.7, and 5.9 percent respectively.
Source:
"Transit Ridership Growth Continues" by Associated Press
writer Jonathan D. Salant, April 17, 2002.
Planning
& Construction Update:
East West Road - New Tampa
The City of Tampa has developed a website, www.eastwestroad.com,
to keep people informed about the Project Development and
Environment Study (PD&E) being conducted for a proposed
East-West road between I-275 and C.R. 581.
Part of this study's efforts will also include an Interchange
Justification Report (IJR) for a new interchange on I-275 between
the Bearss Avenue and S.R. 54 interchanges.
The
website includes project maps,
PD&E/IJR definitions, public involvement information,
project schedules,
public meeting and workshop dates, and materials from
previous meetings. The site also allows the public to subscribe to a
mailing list, for future information on the project.
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