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Commute Alternatives

Commuting is the Bay Area’s single greatest source of greenhouse gas emissions and traffic congestion. It is in everyone’s interest to reduce single car commuting and its significant impact on our air quality and the health of our communities. The benefits can be felt by both employers and employees.

Meeting Sustainability Goals

By taking a vested interest in where and how employees get to work, organizations can make strides toward meeting sustainability and community citizenship goals.

Staying Competitive

Employee benefits such as full-time or hybrid remote work schedules, and subsidized transit passes or carpool parking, are policies that can help employers stay competitive in the Bay Area job market.

Promoting Healthier Commutes

Companies often see a direct link between employee commutes and turnover – two potentially high costs to company productivity and employee morale. By offering hybrid office-home work arrangements, flexible hours, and work sites accessible to mass transit and active transportation options, organizations can help employees de-stress their commutes.

Lowering Development and Operating Costs

Some big-ticket expenses – such as real estate and maintenance costs for employee parking – can be reduced by providing incentives for employees to choose mass transit or active commuting options instead. Examples include bike storage, walking corridors and shuttles that bridge the gap between mass transit stations and the office. Other costs – such as electricity – may be reduced by enabling employees to work flexible schedules or from home.

Building Greener

LEED certification and its associated occupancy and transportation requirements has also become a big consideration for many organizations’ development and expansion plans in the Bay Area. Transit access plays an important role in certification – a positive trend likely to continue in the region.

By implementing an innovative and conscientious commute plan, employers can improve air quality, the health of their local community, operational costs, and employee morale.

Parking Demand Management

A growing number of cars on the road fuels increased demand for worksite parking. Employers must find ways to strike a balance between accommodating and shaping employee commuting habits.

Parking demand management policies and strategies can:

• Help reduce parking demand
• Reserve parking for specific trips and users
• Promote use of alternatives to driving alone

Sustainable strategies for employers could include offering parking or preferential/preferred parking for carpools, vanpools and low/no-emission vehicles. This type of employer perk offers employees access to special parking spaces, normally located closest to building entrances, if employees meet certain criteria.

The Bay Area Commuter Benefits Program requires Bay-Area county employers with 50 or more full-time employees to encourage the use of public transport instead of single-occupancy vehicle driving. Supplying preferred parking is one-way employers can meet alternative commuter benefit criteria.