BWC Strategy Session ategy Session

Promoting BWC Among Colleges and Universities

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On June 8, 2005 Best Workplaces for Commuters

(BWC) continued its 2005 Strategy Session series to 

provide network members with information on trans

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portation demand management (TDM) programs 

offered at colleges and universities. Kevin Tingley, BWC 

team member, provided opening administrative 

remarks, informed the participants that the Association 

for Commuter Transportation is hosting a netconference 

on June 29th entitled “New Approaches to Reduced Car 

Use for Campus Communities.” Speakers are Spenser 

Havlick and Will Toor authors of “Transportation & 

Sustainable Campus Communities; Issues, Examples, & 

Solutions.” 

Details about how to participate in the ACT netconfer

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ence are available at <www.actweb.org>. 

Mr. Tingley then introduced the featured speakers: 

Connie Ruth, program manager, U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Brian Shaw, director of alternative transporta

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tion, Emory University

Why Colleges and Universities? 

Ms. Ruth explained that colleges and universities 

have many features that suit TDM activities. For 

instance, parking is in high demand and while pay 

scales tend to be lower than the commercial sector, 

employees are forced to pay high prices for available 

parking spaces. In addition, land is expensive and 

should be used for academic buildings or green 

spaces rather than parking lots. Finally, Ms. Ruth 

suggested that employer-provided commuter benefits 

serve as an employee recruiting and retention tool to 

find and keep the best talent. 

Recruiting Tips 

Ms. Ruth suggested identifying and prioritizing local 

colleges and universities. Online search engines such 

as <http://education.yahoo.com> can provide a starting point. Ms. Ruth emphasized that recruiters 

should include community colleges in their searches 

since many are located in urban and suburban areas, 

are serviced by mass transit, and accommodate a 

high number of commuters. The next step is to 

develop a list of suitable contacts at these institutions 

through personal relationships, board members, etc. 

Finally, recruiters should contact employees in 

human resources, public relations, or transportation/parking departments. She recommended identifying issues that each college or university is facing 

such as parking shortfalls, community tension and 

“town-gown” issues (conflicts between 

locals—“town”—and university affiliated people— 

“gown”), or increased traffic due to construction 

projects, which will help persuade employers to initiate commuter benefit programs and apply for the 

BWC designation. 

Ms. Ruth described an effective marketing or recruiting plan, which can include a competition or local 

challenge, invitation letters or emails, and active 

recruiting via phone calls or in-person meetings, or 

other creative approaches designed to get attention. 

Mr. Ruth added that recruiters should expect challenges such as difficulty reaching decision makers. 

However, the BWC team has developed a case study 

that depicts the extraordinary costs colleges and universities pay for parking and compares these expenses 

with the cost of transit and vanpool subsidies. Ms. 

Ruth recommended using the cost-savings information in recruiting plans. 

Emory University 

Mr. Shaw explained that Emory University has been 

part of the BWC program since its inception in 

2001. However, the university has been involved in 

Visit www.bwc.gov • Call 888 856-3131 • E-mail bwc@epa.gov 

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TDM work since the early 1990s. Mr. Shaw noted 

that BWC provides additional recognition and legitimacy to Emory’s local TDM programs and serves as 

a connection to transportation demand issues across 

the country. 

Mr. Shaw described the parking situation at Emory, 

which is located in Atlanta, GA. The university 

needs to limit building additional parking and is 

actually removing some spaces since all available land 

is used to support growth of the university. Mr. 

Shaw estimated that a single parking space costs the 

university approximately $10,000 to construct plus 

thousands more to maintain and secure, which is 

more than the cost of providing a transit subsidy to 

one employee for 30 years. He added that Emory 

has fully subsidized transit and has provided significant discounts for vanpoolers and carpoolers for 

more than 10 years. In addition, Emory charges for 

parking as a deterrent for single-occupant transportation, which is also important to increase participation rates. Finally, Mr. Shaw added that Emory’s 

shuttles service the entire community, not just students and faculty, and the fleet includes five buses 

running on electricity. 

Open Discussion

• Alisa Mattison Price from the Downtown 

Minneapolis TMO asked if recruiters tend to 

notice a difference between private companies and 

public institutions. Ms. Ruth explained that some 

public institutions, such as colleges and universities, might have union representation or political 

sensitivities that require equal benefits for all 

employees. This is not always the case with private 

employers. Ms. Price also asked if one sector tends 

to offer more comprehensive benefits than the 

other. Ms. Ruth explained that the BWC team is 

promoting colleges and universities specifically 

because they have so much potential and many 

already provide outstanding benefits that meet or 

exceed the national standard. 

• A participant from South Florida Commuter 

Services explained that she is working with a 

private university and they are worried about liability associated with carpooling. Ms. Ruth mentioned that BWC emphasizes employee, not student, commuter benefits. Mr. Shaw added that 

Emory offers a carpool program that is entirely 

voluntary. Since carpooling is not required and 

parking passes are available, the university is not 

liable for students or employees choosing to use 

the service. Another participant added that 

employers in New Jersey were worried about liability associated with workman’s compensation. 

However, a few years ago the state passed a 

ridesharing law, which protects employers from 

lawsuits related to ride-sharing. 

• Mark Evanoff from AlterNetWays Company stated 

that his company offers rideshare-matching services 

to many universities across the country. 

• A participant asked how colleges and universities 

monitor students using emergency ride home 

(ERH) services. Mr. Shaw explained that Emory’s 

ERH program excludes students because of scheduling and approval reasons. In addition, the 

Atlanta Regional Commission provides ERH 

services and also excludes students. Michelle 

Romano Rockwood from VPSI noted that the 

University of Michigan’s vanpool program also 

excludes students. Steve Offutt from EPA pointed 

out that it is not necessary to provide ERH services 

to students in order to qualify for BWC. 

• A participant asked what strategies colleges and 

universities use to target students for ridesharing. 

Mr. Shaw explained that his transportation department advertises year round but targets students 

especially at the beginning of each academic year. 

Advertising includes ridesharing flyers with parking 

passes, online and newspaper ads, and recognition 

events for students and staff who get to campus 

without driving alone. Mr. Shaw added that students are particularly difficult to convince to 

change commute modes once they are accustomed 

to driving alone and parking on campus. 

• Melissa Vigues from South Florida Commuter 

Services is working with the University of Miami 

and asked Mr. Shaw if Emory allows freshman to 

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park on campus and if he works with an advisory 

committee. Mr. Shaw stated that Emory does not 

allow freshman to park o n campus due to limited 

parking and to help develop a sense of community 

among incoming students. Mr. Shaw also added 

that student groups and faculty get together to 

offer guidance and make decisions regarding transportation and parking policies. In addition, the 

student government at Emory set up a task force to 

investigate transportation demand at the university 

and has developed a carpool program specifically 

for students. 

• David Williamson from Georgia Tech explained 

that while his university is not yet a BWC, they do 

provide similar programs to those offered by 

Emory. Mr. Williamson pointed out that he is 

available as a resource if other participants would 

like advice. Renee Callaway from the University of 

Wisconsin–Madison also noted that her university 

provides only 300 parking spaces for 40,000 

students. 

• Mr. Tingley provided information on the high 

costs required to develop and maintain parking 

compared the low costs of transit subsidies and 

other commuter benefits. According to Unlimited 

Access, a study published by the University of 

California-Los Angeles, a free bus pass system costs 

an average university $30 per student per year. In 

contrast, students spend approximately $2392 per 

year to drive to campus and park. Therefore, 

unlimited access transportation programs lower the 

cost for students to attend college. Mr. Shaw noted 

that Emory’s graduate students are most receptive 

to transportation assistance. 

• Ms. Ruth suggested that for some universities with 

significant land resources or in regions with poor 

transportation infrastructures, a transit subsidy for 

rail or buses may not be a good fit. However, a 

transit subsidy for vanpools has a great deal of 

promise. Making sure that university personnel 

understand that vanpool companies can operate a 

vanpool program directly with their staff can 

remove a perceived (and inaccurate) obstacle that it 

is necessary for the university or college to own a 

fleet of vans. Ms. Rockwood noted that VPSI runs 

the University of Michigan’s vanpool program, 

which is cheaper for the institution since they no 

longer need to pay for vehicle insurance, maintenance, gas, repairs, etc 

• Ms. Ruth suggested that some universities with 

significant land resources or in regions with poor 

transportation infrastructures, a transit subsidy 

might not be the best alternative. Other options 

include vanpools, which can be administered 

externally. Ms. Rockwood noted that VPSI runs 

the University of Michigan’s vanpool program, 

which is cheaper for the institution since they no 

longer need to pay for vehicle insurance, maintenance, gas, repairs, etc. 

• A participant stated that colleges and universities 

often market transportation solutions to students 

and asked for suggestions on how to include faculty and staff in the promotions. Mr. Shaw mentioned that Emory promotes alternative transportation all year with fairs, a list serve, Internet ads, 

and other employee communications. Ms. 

Rockwood added that the University of Michigan 

includes vanpool information with parking passes, 

which are applicable to staff as well as students. 

• David Kapalko from the University of Texas M.D. 

Anderson Cancer Center in Houston explained 

that his university implemented a work-life subsidy 

of $30 per month to all employees. However, the 

subsidy was not provided pre-tax. Ms. Ruth noted 

that there are significant differences between medical and transit pre-tax systems and suggested that 

they speak about this offline. 

Closing

Mr. Tingley closed the discussion and informed the 

participants that a summary of the strategy session 

will be available on the BWC Web site at 

<www.bwc.gov/suppor/seminars.htm>. Mr. Tingley 

mentioned that he next session on BWC Districts 

will be held on July 27, 2005, and he encouraged 

everyone to join the BWC Network and take advantage of the tools and resources available to Network 

members. 

Visit www.bwc.gov • Call 888 856-3131 • E-mail bwc@epa.gov