# Presentation: 702455

## Best Workplaces for CommutersSM

**Air Innovations Conference**
**Chicago, IL**
**August 11, 2004**
**Mayor Patrick McCrory**
**City of Charlotte**

**Best Workplaces for Commuters****SM**

**Notes:**
Hello. I’m Mayor Pat McCrory and I’m here to introduce Best Workplaces for Commuters ---a national, voluntary, EPA & DOT partnership program that is working with communities across the country to advocate employee commuter benefits.

## National Traffic Facts

- From 1980 to 2000 the number of vehicles increased almost twice as fast as the population (DOE, Transportation Energy Data Book).
- From 1982 to 2002, the U.S. population grew 22%, but commuting travel delay grew by 288%, increasing from 16 hours to 62 hours per year due to traffic congestion.  (Texas Transportation Institute)
- The American Lung Association reports that even low levels of ground-level ozone, which is produced by automotive tailpipe emissions and is a component of smog, adversely affect nearly one-third of our population.

**Notes:**
Read through facts, provide a national perspective on the problem or challenge.

## Commuting and the Environment

- Vehicle emissions contribute to air pollution and global climate change
- 1 gal. gasoline = 20 lbs. of climate change pollution (CO2)
- Passenger vehicles cause 20% of U.S. climate change pollution
- Air pollution and global climate change are on the rise
- Driving has more than doubled since 1970 *to 2.5 trillion miles per year*
- SUVs and minivans are now half of auto market *polluting **3 to 5 times more than cars*
- 75% are “drive-alone” trips

**Notes:**
EPA is addressing traffic congestion because of the impacts that commuting has on the environment.
These bullets illustrate how traffic congestion and commuting create local air pollution and global climate change.
With more SUVs on the road and increasing auto emissions (faster than any other sector that contributes to air pollution), the health impacts are serious.

## Commuting in Charlotte

- Expected 40% population growth rate in the next 25 years (660,000 to 945,000)
- Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMI) could increase by 75% from 21 to 36 million miles per year

## Charlotte Initiatives

- 1.CATS 25 year Transit Program
- 2.CATS Coordinated Car Pool/Van Pool Program
- 3.Employer Transportation Coordinator Program
-    (Best Workplaces for Commuters Program)
- 4.Transportation Planning Improvements (HOV, BRT, road widenings)
- 5.New Design Standards (Sidewalks, Bike Lanes)
- 6.General Development Policies – Smart Growth Philosophy focusing on high density corridors

## How Do We Encourage Change?

- Offer commuter benefits!
- 	-	When employers provide an outstanding level of 	commuter benefits, 10% to 30% of employees will 	shift transportation “modes”
- Employees with commuter benefits are _8 times more likely to use transit_ than those who don’t have them (2001 Xylo Survey)
- U.S. employers spend $36 billion annually on employee parking  (KPMG Peat Marwick study)

**Notes:**
According to a 2001 Xylo Survey, employees with commuter benefits are 8 times more likely to use alternative transportation than those who don’t have them.
So, what’s in it for EMPLOYERS? Well, I’ll go into all the details later, but one important consideration is cost savings. Many employers pay lots of money to provide so-called “free” parking. Best Workplaces encourages employers to reduce parking costs by providing other types of commuting assistance, such as subsidies for vanpools & transit, cash in lieu of a parking space, and other options.
Not only do employer-provided commuter benefits help level the playing field between those that receive “free” parking and those that come to work by other modes, but employer assistance actually motivates commuters to change modes.

## What is Best Workplaces for CommutersSM?

- Regionally and nationally recognizes employers that meet or exceed a *National Standard of Excellence* in commuter benefits
- For participating employers, requires that support be provided to employees taking alternative modes such as vanpool, transit, carpool, and telework
- Dozens of transportation, air quality,
- 	human resources, business and
- 	government organizations in communities across the country are
- 	endorsing and supporting the program

**Notes:**
(bullets are self-explanatory)

## BWC Campaigns Planned or Underway 2004-2005

-   **Aspen**
**  ****Boulder**
**  ****Charlotte**
**  ****Dallas**
**  ****Denver**
**  ****Houston**
**  ****Minneapolis/St. Paul**
**  ****New England**

-   **New York metro**
**  ****Phoenix**
**  ****Raleigh-Durham-RTP**
**  ****Sacramento**
**  ****San Francisco Bay Area**
**  ****St. Louis**
**  ****Tucson**
**  ****Washington DC metro**

**Notes:**
Charlotte is one of sixteen communities using the Best Workplaces for Commuters programs to help achieve reductions in traffic and air pollution. 

Communities of all sizes are participating, from those with populations of less than 10,000 to those mega-metro areas like New York and San Francisco.

Charlotte fits somewhere in-between..........  (smile) 

## Charlotte-Mecklenburg

**Notes:**
In 1999, the North Carolina General Assembly passed the “Ambient Air Quality Improvement Act.” This legislation laid out the goal of reducing nitrogen oxide emissions and the growth of vehicle miles traveled by 25% by 2009. 

The “Statewide TDM Plan” released in April 2004 recommended that the NCDOT work in partnership with USEPA to develop a “statewide model for implementation of Best Workplaces for Commuters” – the first such cooperative statewide effort between USEPA and a state agency.   (p. 54 of the TDM plan)

NCDOT and USEPA have begun working together to launch a few community-based pilot projects. One is in the Triangle Region; Raleigh-Durham-RTP.  The other effort is the “new kid on the block”........in Charlotte-Mecklenberg.  In Charlotte, our City’s transit agency, CATS, is working in cooperation with a group of organizations (see logos on slide) to introduce Best Workplaces for Commuters to local employers. 

Given that we have serious ozone pollution and 44% of NOx (the precursor to ozone) in our state comes from vehicles --- and given that our “rush hour” has gone from 4.6 hours in 1982 to 7.4 hours in 2001, which in turn increased our “cost of congestion” from $17million in ’82 to $425million in ’01  ----- we think Best Workplaces for Commuters is a good bet. (see Urban Mobility Report summary for Charlotte, NC).   

## 3Com

- Adobe
- Aetna
- Apple Computer
- AT&T
- Bayer Corp
- ChevronTexaco
- Genentech
- General Dynamics
- Hewlett-Packard

- IBM
- Kaiser Permanente
- Lockheed Martin
- Oracle
- Penske Truck
- PeopleSoft
- Pixar Animation
- Sun Microsystems
- Visa
- Yahoo!

**Notes:**
Over 900 employers from across the nation are participating in the program and received the official designation. Depending on where they’re located, they may be “one of the Best Workplaces for Commuters” in the Bay Area, in St. Louis, or in Charlotte.

Firms of all shapes and sizes are participating. There are firms with tens of thousands of employees, others have less than ten. Some are non-profit, some are government institutions or universities, but many are names we’ve all come to recognize as businesses that are strong contributors to our economy. 

They value their partnership with USEPA, but more significantly, they value a program that delivers real business value --  local and national recognition for being a great place to work, increased retention and recruitment of employees, and being able to demonstrate commitment to employees, the community, and the environment.

## What Employers are Saying

*“ **Getting and retaining the best employees is critical to success in today’s business world. Being recognized as a Best Workplaces for Commuters**SM** is a win-win way to benefit your company, your employees, and your community.”*
- 	- Hewlett-Packard Company (San Francisco Bay Area, CA)
*“**We became a Best Workplaces for Commuters**SM** to support our ‘triple bottom line’ (people, planet, profits). This program contributes to our social bottom line providing a fulfilling work experience; helps us care for the environment; and allows us to be more competitive by attracting the best employees to our company. This, of course, contributes to our economic bottom line.”*
- 	- Idyll, Ltd. (Philadelphia, PA)
*"**Best Workplaces for Commuters**SM** **complements our business programs by recognizing employers who offer transit benefits to their employees. Every time an employer subsidizes transit through an RTD program, they're helping reduce the number of cars on the road, which alleviates traffic problems for all of us." *
- 	- Regional Transportation District (Denver, CO)

**Notes:**
Here are a few examples of employers that offer excellent commuter benefits to their employees and wanted to differentiate themselves in the marketplace.
The BWC logo indicates to employees, job-seekers, competitors, and the general public that these firms are meeting a National Standard of Excellence. 

## Best Workplaces for Commuters Results

**Over 900 employers covering almost 2 million          commuters**
**Employers designated as Best Workplaces for Commuters****SM**** in 31 States**
** ****saving more than 35 million gallons of gasoline annually**
** ****reducing the number of miles driven by more than  7.5 million miles a day **
**reducing significant amounts of VOCs/N0x **

## How to Participate

- To learn more about becoming a Best Workplaces for CommutersSM or supporting a regional campaign:
- Visit www.bwc.gov
- Call the hotline at **888 856-3131**

**Notes:**
I hope that you will contact me or our headquarters office. We’d love to get you on-board!
Can I answer any questions?