Best Workplaces for Commuters

Oregon State University (OSU) has met the Standard of Excellence and is designated a Best Workplace for Commuters. OSU offers prepaid rides to employees and students on the Corvallis Transit System, the Linn-Benton Loop, the Philomath Connection and Albany Transit System.   OSU offers a new carsharing program (WeCar), an electronic ridematching and carpooling system, access to a local pedicab service that provides human-powered rides in and around campus, a campus shuttle that is free to all riders. Also offered are telecommuting options and compressed work schedules, an emergency ride home program, preferential parking for vanpools, and partnerships with organizations that provide carpool ridematching and vanpool services, and secure bicycle parking and showers.

Oregon State University  is a comprehensive, public, research-extensive university and a member of the Oregon University System serving as the state’s land-, sea-, space- and sun-grant institution – one of only two universities with such designation in the country. OSU programs and faculty are located in every county of the state and are dedicated to investigating the state’s greatest challenges.

The University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston has been designated a Best Workplace for Commuters and has received the Bronze Award for offering employees, patients and students a wide range of transportation options to make their commute as stress free as possible.  

UTMB offers many commuting choices for its employees, patients, students and retirees. Most recently, transportation from the Mall of the Mainland in Texas City was made available to UTMB employees free of charge through Island Connect, making the trip back and forth from the mainland a more relaxing experience.  UTMB also offers free offsite parking that is within walking distance to campus and accessible by shuttle service.  In addition, university employees, patients, students and retirees are able to ride all public transportation free of charge. For those with disabilities who are unable to use the regular fixed route service, Dial-a-Ride, a curb-to-curb service, is available at no cost.

ABOUT UTMB: Established in 1891, Texas’ first academic health center comprises four health sciences schools, three institutes for advanced study, a research enterprise that includes one of only two national laboratories dedicated to the safe study of infectious threats to human health, and a health system offering a full range of primary and specialized medical services throughout Galveston County and the Texas Gulf Coast region. UTMB is a component of the University of Texas System.

Cherokee has met the Standard of Excellence and is designated a Best Workplace for Commuters by the National Center for Transit Research. Cherokee’s alternative commuting support includes free bus passes for employees; showers and changing rooms for those commuting by bike; its downtown headquarters location within 200 yards of the city’s main bus hub and within walking distance of dozens of amenities such as restaurants, the post office and government buildings; email alerts when air quality is poor; and an emergency ride home program is provided by Triangle Transit.

Cherokee, headquartered in Raleigh, N.C., is an investment company that blends capital with creativity, experience and resolve to provide superior financial, environmental and social returns for investors, partners and communities. With nearly $2 billion in assets under management, Cherokee has invested in more than 525 properties worldwide, with a strong focus on redeveloping brownfields (i.e., environmentally impaired real estate). Cherokee is responsible for the first two LEED Platinum green buildings in North Carolina and is the first investment fund member of the U.S. EPA Green Power Partnership as well as its Climate Leader Program. Most recently, the firm was recognized for its leadership in environmentally sustainable business practices with the Social Enterprise Networks of YPO (Young Presidents’ Organization) 2010 Corporate Social Responsibility Award.

Grand Valley State University has met the Standard of Excellence and is designated a Best Workplace for Commuters.  Transportation between and within the Pew Grand Rapids Campus and the Allendale Campus is easy, free, and convenient with the variety of shuttle service options available to all Grand Valley students, faculty and staff. Since initiating a contract with Grand Rapids, Michigan’s transit agency, The Rapid, in 2000, Allendale’s Grand Valley State University (GVSU) has seen its ridership grow every year.   GVSU offers  GreenRide, a service that matches carpool partners, bicycle and walking maps, secure bicycle parking, lunchtime shuttles, and park and ride options.