Best Workplaces for Commuters

IBM has met the Standard of Excellence and is designated a Best Workplace for Commuters for multiple locations across the nation.

IBM pioneered programs to reduce employee commuting and has sustained them for two decades. Today, IBM has active commuter programs in countries around the globe with ride share matching programs, cars on demand, public transit support, work at home and mobile employee programs, and other commuter support activities.  In the United States, IBM’s most participated commuter programs are its work at home and compressed or alternate work schedule programs, with over a third of IBM U.S. employees taking part.

Nineteen (19) IBM locations across the country are registered as BWC locations resulting in over 62% of IBM’s U.S. population residing at BWC sites or working from home. Many locations actively work with their local or regional transit commissions to integrate IBM’s programs with regional programs to increase commuting options for IBM employees.  IBM is proud to be a member of BWC and to work with the group and its other transit partners to promote more efficient commuting options for our employees and to reduce the emissions associated with employee commuting.

Visit http://www.ibm.com/ibm/environment/climate/  for more information.

Cisco Systems, Inc. located in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina has met the Standard of Excellence and is designated a Best Workplace for Commuters.  As a leader, Cisco Systems, Inc. offers a significant telework program.  Their facilities are bicycle friendly with amenities including secure bicycle parking and lockers and showers at every building.   An onsite fitness center and cafeteria is another benefit employees enjoy.

Cisco Systems, Inc. is an active member of a TMA and local ozone awareness program and  they participate in the Triangle Transit Ride Share program. Their facilities also offer preferred parking for alternative fuel vehicles and preferred parking for electric vehicles.

An Emergency Ride Home program for employees is provided by Triangle Transit.

Ecology and Environment, Inc. (E & E) located in Lancaster, New York has met the Standard of Excellence and is designated a Best Workplace for Commuters.  The many commuter benefits that E & E offers to its employees include a web-based ride matching service (www.greenride.com), shower facilities, preferred parking for carpoolers, pre-tax parking and mass transit payroll reduction for bus and/or train expenses, up to $1.50 per day for employees carpooling with 2 or more employees, $1 per day in incentives for using public transportation, a $500 monthly and $1000 yearly raffle and employee recognition on the company’s internal TV monitors nationwide for employees participating in the rideshare program.

 E & E is a broad-based environmental consulting, engineering, and design firm operating from 30 offices throughout the United States, with subsidiaries and affiliates around the world.  With 1000 staff, they employ hundreds of planners, scientists, and engineers representing over 85 separate disciplines that span the physical, biological, social, and health sciences.  E & E has provided practical solutions to environ­mental problems, including transportation and air quality, for over 45,000 assignments in 85 countries.  Their underlying philosophy is based on a worldwide commitment to supporting sustainable development through responsible environmental practices.  E & E has been leading by example since the company was founded on sustainable development principles in 1970: The company has been recycling since 1971, ridesharing since 1973, and built its green headquarters in 1988. In 2008, E & E headquarters was the oldest building in the world to be rated LEED^®Platinum, the highest possible rating awarded by the U.S. Green Building Council. E&E has also been repeatedly recognized by EPA and Best Work Places for Commuters for its commitment to rideshare and air quality.

The City of San Ramon has met the Standard of Excellence and is designated a Best Workplace for Commuters.  The City of San Ramon provides a wide variety of commuter benefits and incentives to their City employees.  They provide a significant telework program that reduces a large percentage of work trips.  They also offer a commuter program with monthly drawings to help encourage City employees to take a commute alternative to work and meetings.  They have a year end drawing to all employees who participated in the commute program and reminders are sent to all city employees regarding the Spare the Air and Winter Spare the Air, Check Before you Burn!  They also host a City Transportation Commuter Fair. 

The City also assists employers and property managers develop on-site transportation information to local and regional transportation programs.  In concert with 511 Contra Costa, they offer comprehensive commute-related services for small and large businesses.  Included in these services is a guaranteed ride home program for all rideshare participants.

SLO Regional Rideshare/SLOCOG has met the Standard of Excellence and is designated a Best Workplace for Commuters.  SLO Regional Rideshare offers several benefits to employees including a transit pass benefit, telework, compressed workweek and the Lucky Bucks program.  Employees have access to an Emergency Ride Home through their in-house program.

SLO Regional Rideshare is a “one-stop-shop” for transportation information  in the San Luis Obispo area. They are dedicated to reducing the number of single occupant vehicles on San Luis Obispo County’s roads and highways, conserving fuel, reducing air pollution and making it easier for commuters to get to work or school. A division of the San Luis Obispo Council of Governments, SLO Regional Rideshare shows employers the value of transportation benefits and customizes programs to meet a company’s unique needs. In addition, Rideshare provides youth and senior programs, personalized trip planning assistance and an interactive website with carpool and vanpool matching.

North Carolina State University has met the Standard of Excellence and is designated a Best Workplace for Commuters.  Through the GoPass, students, faculty and staff ride CAT and Triangle Transit for free.  All NC State employees who use an alternative mode for their commute to campus are eligible for Triangle Transit’s FREE emergency ride home program (ERH). Along with a matching service, the NC State carpool program allows two or more faculty and/or staff members parking for only $7 a month per rider in certain parking zones.  NC State, in collaboration with Triangle Transit (TT), offers a vanpool service for commuters. They also provide secure bicycle parking, many on-site amenities, and actively participate in healthy initiatives to encourage walking and bicycling.  A bikesharing program is scheduled to debut Spring, 2010.

Microsoft Corporation located in Redmond, Washington has met the Standard of Excellence and is designated a Best Workplace for Commuters.  Microsoft Corporation offers a transit and vanpool pass benefit to employees.  They also offer rideshare matching, shuttles, preferred parking for carpoolers and vanpoolers, secure bicycle parking and emenities, incentives, carsharing and an emergency ride home program.

Microsoft is engaged in developing, manufacturing, licensing, and supporting a range of software products and services for different types of computing deveices.  Microsoft Corporation is a Fortune 500 company with approximately 53,000 employees in the United States.

The N.C. Department of Transportation has been designated as a Best Workplace for Commuters. The department offers both flexible work hour schedules and compressed work week schedules. Currently, through the GoPass Program, employees who work in the Raleigh area can ride the City of Raleigh transit system, Capital Area Transit (CAT); and the Regional transit system, Triangle Transit, free of charge. Additionally, employees who vanpool to the downtown Raleigh area are entitled to a $15 per month fare subsidy and NCDOT provides priority parking for vanpools close to the building entrances. Employees also have access to an on-line rideshare matching service that provides an instantaneous match list of individuals who may be potential rideshare partners.

 NCDOT also provides funding assistance to Transportation Demand Management Programs across the state and participates in the annual SmartCommute Challenge.

RTI International has met the Standard of Excellence and is designated a Best Workplace for Commuters.  RTI International, located in Research Triangle Park, NC offers a transit and vanpool pass benefit to employees.  They are also active in a Transportation Management Association, offer rideshare matching, preferred parking for carpools and vanpools, secure bicycle parking, an employee commuting awards program and emergency ride home through  Triangle Transit, compressed work schedules, telework, onsite amenities, and they actively promote healthy intiatiatives to increase walking and biking.  They also have an active cycling group and on-site bicycle repair facility.

RTI International is one of the world’s leading research institutes, dedicated to improving the human condition by turning knowledge into practice. With a staff of more than 2,800, RTI International provides research and technical expertise to governments and businesses in more than 40 countries in the areas of health and pharmaceuticals, education and training, surveys and statistics, advanced technology, international development, economic and social policy, energy and the environment, and laboratory and chemistry services.

The City of Asheville has met the Standard of Excellence and is named a Best Workplaces for Commuters.  The City of Asheville provides a transit pass benefit and a significant compressed work week program for employees.  They provide rideshare matching, preferred parking for carpools, emergency ride home, secure bicycle parking and amenities, and a bikesharing program. 

The City of Asheville also promotes TDM programs through the “Way to Go! Commuter Club.  Blue Ridge Commuter Connections, a Western North Carolina commuter assistance program that is co-sponsored by the City of Asheville and the North Carolina Department of Transportation, has designed the “Way to Go! Commuter Club. The purpose of the club is to help promote healthier lifestyles and alternative commutes for employers and employees in downtown Asheville that in turn helps reduce traffic congestion and air pollution. Participants will be encouraged to walk or bicycle when taking lunch, breaks, or running errands. 

Commuters/employees who commute to downtown Asheville via bicycling, walking, transit, and car/vanpooling two or more days a week are eligible to register to receive a Commuter Club card and also win prizes. Discounts may be offered at participating downtown businesses.