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Commute Trip
Reduction News
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Smart Commuter of the Quarter Announced
Lian Chow is what she calls “an oldie moldy” at Korry Electronics in Everett.
Her impact on the company as a senior accountant and employee for 23 years may be one thing, but her commitment to using a smart commute option for more than a decade is another. Lian’s been logging commute miles from Shoreline to Korry’s Beverly Park Road location in a five-person Community Transit Vanpool for 13 years.
She said it’s simply the best way to get to work.
Besides reducing carbon emissions and saving on gas and car maintenance costs, Lian said she gets to make friends and know others who work in her company.
“This is a convenient and relaxing way to get to work,” Lian said.
When asked about any fun vanpool stories, she said her vanpool is usually quiet so that riders can rest and read in the van.
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Community Transit TDM Team Recognized for ETC Program Guide
Community Transit was awarded Best Print Marketing by the Association for Commuter Transportation (ACT), which recognizes and honors outstanding achievements in the use of transportation demand management (TDM) strategies to improve transportation options for commuters.
Over 80 nominations were received in 15 categories for this year’s ACT National Awards, which were presented on the final day of ACT’s Virtual International Conference last week.
Consideration was given for the Employee Transportation Coordinator Program Guide, a resource developed by Community Transit’s Transportation Demand Management group and designed in-house by Community Transit's talented creative team.
The guide serves as a reference, interactive workbook and training manual for employers throughout Snohomish County and City of Bothell, and was designed with the direct input of Employee Transportation Coordinators, themselves.
“We applaud the achievements of these important programs. These awardees represent national leaders in the field who are committed to improving the quality of life of their commuters and improving the livability of their communities,” said David Straus, executive director at ACT. “We are honored to shine a spotlight on these impactful programs and initiatives.”
Bike to Work Still on the Calendar in September
If this year was like every other year, May's calendar would have been spilling over with fun bike events. Although the League of American Bicyclists kept May as Bike Month, promoting #BikesUnite as a way to keep people connected through riding, we've seen F5 Networks move their local bike challenge to July and Cascade Bicycle Club move the STP to a free, online ride, which just ended a week ago.
Not to worry. You didn't miss Bike to Work Week or Bike to Work Day. National Bike to Work Week was rescheduled to Sept. 21-27 with Bike to Work Day as Sept. 22. In addition, Love to Ride is hosting Cycle September, a global and national bike challenge for the entire month. And if you've spent any autumn days in the Pacific Northwest, you know that the weather doesn't get much better than September for riding your bike.
In May we assembled a Bike Month Guide. We've updated the Guide to include all the September fun. You can find the updated Bike To Work Guide 2020 under Reimagining Bike Month in 2020 on the ETC Resources Page.
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Community Transit Prepares for Leadership Change
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After more than 40 years of public service, including 15 years at Community Transit, CEO Emmett Heath has announced that he will retire later this year in order to spend more time with his family, including his three young grandchildren.
Heath has served as CEO for Community Transit for six years and, before being selected CEO, held the position of director of administration for nine years. Heath has had a long career in public service in the Puget Sound region, holding executive leadership positions at both King County Metro and the Snohomish County PUD before coming to Community Transit in 2005.
Heath, who had been considering retirement since late last year, put his plans on hold to help lead the agency through the initial emergency phases of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Board has asked that he continue to serve as CEO until a successor is selected, likely late this year.
“I’m very proud of this agency and the many amazing co-workers I have met during my 15-year career here,” said Heath in a message to employees. “We have been resilient in the face of adversity, and we always rebound to provide better and better services for our customers. We have accomplished a great deal together and have had a lot of fun times along the way. Thank you for everything you do to serve the community and to make Community Transit the special place that it is.”
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August Advanced Trainings
Community Transit Programs
August 18, 10-11 a.m.: Pandemic Behavior – How it affects Transportation Options (1 hour Advanced Training Credit) Learn how the direct and indirect effects of the pandemic have shifted behavior trends, how human psychology plays a role, and ways you can take advantage of shifting demand to meet your own worksite goals. Presented by Alex Mehn with Community Transit’s Community Programs team. RSVP to CTR@commtrans.org.
King County Metro Trainings
RideshareOnline.com Training hosted by King County Metro Aug. 19, 10-11:30 a.m.: RSO Basic Training Aug. 20, 10-11:30 a.m.: RSO Incentive Management (Each training is worth 2 hours Advanced Training credits)
If you are planning to attend, please also RSVP to CTR@commtrans.org. The introductory ETC training for RideshareOnline.com must be completed before attending the Incentive Management training.
Recorded 3-Part Webinar Series on Telework Each program is worth 1 hour Advanced Training Credit.
Remote Management & Teleworking Culture: The COVID-19 Era Recording is here.
Collaborative Technologies for Telework Recording is here.
The Road to Success for Teleworkers in the Era of COVID-19 Recording is here.
Other Recorded Webinars and Trainings Online
You can watch recorded trainings on our ETC Resources page and complete the Advanced Training Hours Survey to get advanced training credit hours.
Washington State Ridesharing Organization (WSRO) Conference
Sept. 22, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Online
WSRO 20/20: Seeing Transportation Options Clearly is a one-day digital experience taking place through Zoom. With a digital conference, WSRO hopes to engage more statewide partners and highlight diverse speakers. The global pandemic has allowed us to see many things more clearly: inequities, fragility and holes in our assumptions, but it has also revealed the importance of flexible transportation options to our economy. WSRO 20/20 will explore the ways that employers, commuters and TDM partners have adapted, innovated and proven our resilience during this unprecedented time.
The conference is FREE for members to attend. If you are not yet a WSRO member, you can purchase an individual membership for the remainder of 2020, which includes your conference registration. Non-Member Conference registration costs $62.50 and includes membership in WSRO for the remainder of the year! Register here.
Based on the sessions you attend, you can receive up to four hours of Advanced Training hours for 2020. There will also be an opportunity to join a conference recap program to share relevant learnings with your ETC peers who were unable to attend. Reach out to us for more details, or if you have any questions.
Conference scholarships are available WSRO is offering 10 conference scholarships for those whose employers are unable to support conference registration fees and are not WSRO members. Scholarship applications are due by 5 p.m. Aug. 31. The WSRO Board will review and award scholarships by Sept. 7. You can find the scholarship application here.
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Now's the time to reap the benefits of RideshareOnline
Every quarter our team randomly draws a Smart Commuter of the Quarter from a list of eligible commuters who work at our CTR worksites, and every quarter our team realizes we need to do a better job communicating the benefits of logging commute trips.
The relevance of telework has grown exponentially over the past five months, and in addition to wanting to make sure employees know that teleworking and working compressed work week schedules are commute options recognized within the Smart Commuter Rewards program, we also want to make sure telework data is being captured in real time on RSO.
Commute Options included in the Smart Commuter program are:
- riding transit, including buses, ferries, trains or light rail - vanpooling - carpooling - walking - riding a bike - teleworking - working compressed work week schedules
Managing Rideshare Online can seem onerous, especially when workloads are already overwhelming. However, RSO can be a handy tool when having to track company incentive programs and overall transportation mode splits for reporting purposes. It's a great way to create your own company competitions, aka challenges, and also to access data when you're considering program enhancements during planning periods.
Do you have access to Rideshare Online? Have you logged into RSO recently? If not, can we reactivate your account for you? If you haven't used RSO before, do you need help getting into the platform? As your worksite's RSO "expert," we are hoping you can champion the use of the platform. How can we help you?
If you're wanting to learn RSO as Bike to Work Week approaches, you're in luck. King County Metro is hosting a RSO Online Basic Training, as well as RSO Incentive Management next week. See the details above and reach out if you need any help getting into your account or into the training.
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ETC Spotlight Lacey Handel, FUJIFILM Sonosite
What is your title with FUJIFILM Sonosite? HR Associate
How long have you been an Employee Transportation Coordinator? Since the beginning of 2016.
Tell us about FUJIFILM Sonosite. What does the company manufacture? Fujifilm Sonosite is a great company to work for. We are a medical device manufacturing company for point-of-care ultrasound systems.
FUJIFILM Sonosite has a robust CTR program. What is your secret? We listen to our employees when they have suggestions, provide onsite amenities and have a variety of reimbursement programs for our employees.
What transportation option(s) do your employees use most? We have a good mix of employees who ride the bus and/or bike into work daily.
What has been your biggest challenge as an ETC? Although we provide many great resources, I've found that there are still people who don't know what the CTR program is and how they can make use of our different offerings. We are always looking for more ways to get the information to our employees.
What advice can you give to other ETCs who may be having challenges implementing their program? Don't give up! Keep talking about it, send emails, post fliers, create online and virtual events. There are so many benefits to having a program, and the more people who know about it and use the resources, the more opportunity there is to help the program grow.
What one thing are you most proud of with your CTR program? The space we've created for our biking community is really great! I'm not a biker but if I tackled the hill everyday like some of them I'd be thrilled to have a bike room and locker rooms right next to each other.
When you’re not wearing your ETC hat, what do you like to do outside of work? When I'm not working, I'm usually hiking or camping with my family. Rain or shine, the PNW is a great place to explore. I've lived here my whole life and there are still so many place to see and adventures to be had.
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Vanpool Survey Addresses Local Travel and Transport Needs, Rental Options
COVID-19 has had a profound effect on the way people travel. Organizations are concerned about getting their employees to work and their customers to their destinations safely and reliably.
Community Transit is considering launching a new program that could benefit your organization. The program would use vans to help move people or supplies more easily within our communities. We would like your input as we develop this program.
Please consider taking this 3-minute survey by Friday, August 28. The survey is available here.
If you have questions or want to learn more, email Community Transit's Vanpool Team.
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Sound Transit Needs Your Help with Stride Bus Rapid Transit, Announces Federal Grant
Sound Transit is hosting an online open house where members of the public can learn about design updates made to the SR 522/NE 145th Stride Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project. Participants will also be able to share their thoughts on the project and sign up for email updates.
The online open house will is available through Aug. 23. Sound Transit will host virtual public meetings as more detailed designs become available throughout 2020–2021.
Sound Transit's upcoming BRT program, will provide fast, frequent and reliable high-capacity transit service. Similar to light rail service, BRT is designed for fast arrivals and departures, including off-board fare payment and multiple-door entry and exit. New bus lanes and transit priority improvements help riders avoid traffic and travel faster.
The Stride S3 Line will serve growing north Lake Washington communities and connect them to the regional transit system. Riders will be able to transfer between the SR 522/NE 145th Stride S3 Line, I-405 North Stride S2 Line, Link light rail and other transit service provided by Community Transit, King County Metro and Sound Transit. The project includes additional parking at Lake Forest Park, Kenmore and Bothell.
You can find more information and the online open house here.
In a press release issued this week, Sound Transit announced the Federal Transit Administration awarded Sound Transit $4.8 million to procure up to five high-capacity transit buses for the SR 522 BRT project.
"Stride 3 will help relieve traffic congestion in the rapidly growing cities that it will serve," said Sound Transit Board Member and Kenmore Mayor David Baker. "In light of the financial impact of COVID-19 on Sound Transit, this grant is especially important now. We are grateful to the FTA and our congressional delegation for their ongoing support to improve transit in our region."
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