Comprehensive, Practical Employee Commute Options Guidebook for New York State

Transcription

1 TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH RECORD Comprehensive, Practica Empoyee Commute Options Guidebook for New York State MITSURU SAITO, CLAIRE MCKNIGHT, AND ELENA PRASSAS A comprehensive guidebook for practica empoyee commute options (ECO) was compied for empoyers in New York State to provide them the technica expertise to deveop an ECO program. This ECO guidebook is a resut of iterature search, empoyer survey, and the participation of advisory committee members consisting of peope from the agencies that wi be enforcing the state reguations that impement the federa Cean Air Act Amendments of 1990 and representatives of severa organizations that have experience working with empoyers on commuter transportation in the New York metropoitan area. This study identified guaranteed ride home programs, parking management, and the commitment of upper management as three essentia factors that wi make an ECO program succeed. The strength of this ECO guidebook is an extensive discussion of each commute option and support strategy as we as a discussion of the entire process of deveoping and impementing an ECO program and the background of successfu ECO programs. The description of each commute option or support strategy contains such topics as definitions, candidate empoyees, empoyee and empoyer benefits, empoyer's roe, empoyer and empoyee costs, detaied impementation steps, successfu cases, additiona resources and readings, and sampe program impementation schedues. A summary of the findings from the iterature search and empoyer survey is presented, the responsibiities of the empoyee transportation coordinator are discussed, and the guidebook is introduced briefy. The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) and the New York State Energy Office (NYSEO) have identified the New York metropoitan area as highy congested. To compy with the federa Cean Air Act Amendments (CAAA) of 1990, the NYSDOT and NYSEO train empoyers (especiay those with 100 or more empoyees, who are required to participate) to deveop empoyee commute options (ECO) programs. Through the University Transportation Research Center (UTRC) program of the U.S. Department of Transportation, they sponsored the deveopment of an ECO guidebook (1). This guidebook is to be distributed to empoyers who, vountariy or by requirement, undertake to start commute-reduction programs. A UTRC project team from the City Coege of New York and Poytechnic University performed an extensive iterature search on trip-reduction programs and surveyed seected empoyers to Obtain their views on such programs. Most of the organizations were from the New York metropoitan area, and a few were from Caifornia. They were chosen from those that aready have programs encouraging ridesharing and the use of pubic transit. The team aso formed an advisory committee, whose members come from the agencies that wi enforce the state reguations impementing the CAAA of 1990, as we as from severa organizations that have experience working with empoyers on commuter transportation in the New York metropoitan area. For exampe, Transit Center, the agency that promotes the empoyer transit-subsidy program, and Long Isand Transportation Management and Metropoo, organizations that provide technica assistance to empoyers, were on the advisory board. The New York Chamber of Commerce was instrumenta in soiciting feedback for the guidebook from severa of its business members. A summary of the efforts in preparing the guidebook is presented. First, a description of the state s requirements for an ECO guidebook is given, foowed by the goa and Objectives of the guidebook and major findings from the iterature and empoyer survey. Then, the saient points of the guidebook are summarized. The guidebook is comprehensive and practica, prepared in pain Engish for future empoyee transportation coordinators (ETCs). REQUIREMENTS FOR ECO GUIDEBOOK Past reguatory efforts to reduce poution from automobies, whie successfu in reducing poutants per vehice-mie, have been undermined by the increase in the tota vehice-mies that Americans drive. The CAAA of 1990 addresses the reduction of vehice-mies through severa measures, one of the most controversia of which focuses on cornmuting in singe-occupant vehices (SOVs). Unike most reguations, fina impementation wi be done by arge empoyers (pubic and private) rather than by governmenta agencies specificay responsibe for environment, transportation, or panning, Specificay, the reguations estabish requirements for empoyers with 100 or more empoyees at a work site in a severe nonattainment area for ozone. These empoyers must show that the ratio of empoyees reporting during the peak period to the number of vehices used for the commutes is equa to or greater than the average vehice occupancy (AVO) targeted for the region where the worksite is ocated. The target AVO vaues are 25 percent above the AVO standards, which are computed using the 1980 and 1990 U.S. Bureau of the Census data and a inear projection, If this target is not met at present, the empoyers must make efforts to change commuting habits through ECO programs so as to achieve that AVO. The new reguations require that organizations take on much more responsibiity for how their empoyees get to work than they did in the past. These reguations ask most empoyers to reverse their invovement in commuting transportation, Few organizations are prepared for this roe. Often, empoyers have provided free parking to their empoyees, which added to the incentives for empoyees to drive their own cars. The ECO reguations ask empoyers to M. Saito and C. McKnight, Institute for Transportation Systems, City University of New York, New York, N.Y E. Prassas, Transportation Training and Research Center, Poytechnic University, Brookyn, N. Y reduce the number of commuters driving aone.

2 132 TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH RECORD 1496 and practica. It is written in pain Engish, in order to be readiy understood by nontransportation personne of an organization and to hep them through the deveopment and impementation of an ECO program. The specific objectives of the guidebook were to accompish the foowing: Areas in New York State that are directy affected by the CAAA of 1990 are concentrated in the downstate region. The Environmenta Protection Agency designated 9 counties, pus seven townships in a tenth county, in downstate New York as severe nonattainment areas for ozone. Figure 1 shows the ocations and names of the affected counties and townships. These areas are grouped into four regions to appy state standards (2): Region 1: The county of New York (AVO = 7.81); Region 2: The counties of Bronx, Queens, Kings, and Richmond (AVO = 2.48); Region 3: The counties of Nassau and Suffok (AVO = 1.46); and Region 4: The counties of WestChester and Rockand and, in orange County, the townships of Booming Grove Chester, Highands, Monroe, Tuxedo, Warwick, and Woodbury; any other contiguous counties or areas that are designated by the EPA as Severe nonattainment areas for ozone (AVO = 1.56). The reguations enacted by New York State to impement the federa CAAA of 1990 require that each county have a oca administrative agency to monitor compiance and that each organization that must compy (i.e., that has a work site with 100 or more empoyees in the severe ozone non-attainment area) must designate one person, the ETC, to be responsibe for Preparing the compiance documents. Each organization must survey its empoyees to determine its current average passenger occupancy (APO). The concept of APO is simiar to that of AVO. The APO is determined by individua organizations for their work sites, whie the AVO is the target vaue determined for each region by the state, based on the 1980 and 1990 U.S. Bureau of the Census data. If the computed APO is beow the target AVO for the area where the work site is ocated, the organization must prepare an ECO Pan to show how they Wi achieve the target AVO. If their APO is equa to or greater than the target AVO, they must prepare a maintenance pan. GOAL AND OBJECTIVES OF GUIDEBOOK The goa of the ECO guidebook was to provide empoyers in New York State with technica information that is comprehensive 1. Present the entire process of the program deveopment in order for ETCs to gain an overview of the process; 2. Incude sampe forms and sampe situations for easier comprehension of the concepts discussed in the guidebook; 3. Inform ETCs about potentia barriers to deveoping ECO programs and how to overcome them; 4. Encourage ETCs to take a team approach invoving management, union representatives, ega experts, information speciaists, and so forth, as we as empoyees; 5. Incude successfu ECO programs as exampes to iustrate in what circumstances particuar commute options were successfu; 6. Make the description of each commute option and each support strategy stand aone as much as possibe so that sections for commute options and support strategies can be pued out of the guidebook to circuate among those invoved; 7. Incude ists of administrative agencies, transportation management associations, and ride-matching organizations in New York to hep ETCs access necessary information; and 8. Make the guidebook instructive for empoyers that are not affected by the NY ECO reguations either because they are not in the nonattainment areas or because they are beow the threshod of 100 empoyees at a worksite. RESEARCH FINDINGS The project team drew together information from existing programs and studies, as we as the survey conducted as part of the project. Some of the earier studies are isted in the reference section of this paper (3-10). Particuary Usefu Were ECO programs in Caifornia that have aready been impemented in response to Caifornia State Reguation XV, on which the federa reguations were modeed. Most of the surveyed empoyers in the New York Metropoitan area deveoped ECO programs for other purposes than meeting the CAAA reguations, For instance, corne University deveoped a successfu demand-management program with the goa of reducing the demand for parking on its campus so that they woud not need to buid a new parking garage, simiary, Texaco in White pains, New York, started its vanpoo program in the 1970s primariy to aeviate Some of the commute hardship of their empoyees who were being transfened to a suburban office. When the transfer took pace, empoyees who did not own cars requested company-sponsored transportation, As a resut of the success of the piot program, vanpoos are now operating at many of Texaco's major office faciities. Certain essons were earned from the various studies. For instance, the resuts from the first severa years of Caifornia's ECO program suggested that ECO programs woud not be an effective approach to cean air in Caifornia. The program there has had a sma, probaby insignificant, impact on tota vehice mies and on air poution. This was party because ony 12 percent of the empoyers covered by the reguation achieved their target, but more because the vehice-mies covered by the reguation were ony a fraction of tota driving in that state. Work trips make up ony a quarter of tota trips, and ony trips to arge work sites and ony trips

3 Saito et a. 133 during the peak period were incuded in the program. The decrease in vehice-mies attributed to the programs was estimated to be ess than 0.5 percent of tota mies traveed. This amount was ess than the annua growth in vehice-mies of trave (VMT). Athough these resuts are discouraging, New York, particuary those counties that are in the nonattainment category, has a strong transit commute tradition that coud hep ECO programs succeed. Furthermore, over a onger period, there may be greater change in commuter behavior due to decreased avaiabiity of fossi fues. Lessons from the Caifornia programs can make the New York programs more effective. For exampe, the most successfu programs tend to combine severa options and support strategies. Support strategies incude poicies that woud make commute options more attractive, such as guaranteed ride home, parking management, fexibe work hours, and the provision of shower faciities for empoyees who bicyce or wak to work. Three support programs were essentia to many successfu ECO programs: guaranteed ride home, parking management, and upper management s commitment. Without a guaranteed ride home program, many empoyees wi continue to drive their persona cars despite the advantages of aternative commute options because they are afraid of not being abe to respond quicky to a persona emergency. This is particuary true of working parents with young chidren. Once they are assured that they can reach their homes or chidren quicky, through the use of a taxi, a company car, or other methods, they are much more wiing to try other commute methods. A further finding is that most companies that have provided a guaranteed ride home reported that they were not paying a ot for it. Because the program was there for emergencies, it was not frequenty used: it was the guarantee that gives the participants essentia peace of mind. A second support strategy that has been very effective is parking management, particuary reduction in free parking. Empoyers may find it difficut to take away free parking, a benefit that is often taken for granted and occasionay written into union contracts. One successfu approach is to pay each empoyee a commute aowance which is equa to the fee for parking. Thus, an empoyee who chooses to continue to drive an SOV breaks even monetariy, whie one who changes to another mode, transit for exampe, profits by the amount of the aowance. Parking-fee structures can aso be designed to encourage carpooing and vanpooing by charging fees per vehice that decrease with the number of occupants, or empoyees who have more than a set number of passengers can be given rebates. Corne University used this type of parking-fee structure. The university s program was abe to reduce the number of singeoccupant drivers by about 26 percent within a year (9). A third important factor for many successfu ECO programs is the commitment of upper management. Ony with strong management support can the ETC effectivey enforce the ECO program. Upper management s commitment needs to be communicated to supervisors who directy dea with the commuting empoyees. DEFINITIONS OF EMPLOYEE COMMUTE OPTIONS AND SUPPORT STRATEGIES New York state grouped transportation demand management (TDM) measures described by the CAAA into two groups: empoyee commute options and support strategies. Commute options coud invove moda changes by commuters from an SOV to high-occupancy vehices (such as pubic transit, carpooing, and vanpooing) or to commute aternatives that do not invove motorized vehices (such as bicyces or waking). Commute options coud aso invove changes in frequency or time of commuting, such as compressed work hours or teecommuting. Support strategies are ones that enhance the attractiveness of seected commute options, as defined in the previous section. By grouping programs into these two categories the reationship between commute options and support strategies was made cear. For instance, if use of pubic transit was seected as a commute option to reduce SOVs, then fare subsidies, guaranteed ride home programs, and so forth can be seected as support strategies to make transit use more attractive. Figure 2 shows the types of commute options and support strategies incuded in the New York ECO guidebook. ROLE OF EMPLOYEE TRANSPORTATION COORDINATOR The ETC is the key person to pu management, the union, and empoyees together to make an ECO program work. Having an ETC with the responsibiity of carrying out the ECO program is a requirement for the empoyers covered by the metropoitan New York ECO reguations (2), and is recommended for vountary pro. grams. The ETC wi guide the deveopment of the ECO program Chapter 1. Chapter 2. Chapter 3. Chapter 4. Chapter 5. Chapter 6. Chapter 7. Chapter 8. Chapter 9. Gossary How To Use This Guidebook What Do You Have To Do Putting Together An ECO Program Conducting A Survey Choosing Commute Options Marketing Monitoring and Evauation Empoyee Commute Options Pubic Transit - Vanpooing - Carpooing - Buspooing - Bicycing - Waking - Variabe Work Hours - Teecommuting - Other Commute Options Support Strategies - Guaranteed Ride Home - Parking Management - Ridematching - Joining or Starting a TMA - Direct Financia Incentives - Transportation Aowance - Transportation Information Center - Empoyer Poicies - Van Driver Incentives - Assistance in Chid Care - Park-and-Ride Lots - Shutte Services Appendix A. Metropoitan NY ECO Reguations Appendix B. List of Loca Administrative Agencies Appendix C. List of Existing TMAs in New York Appendix D. List of Ridesharing Organization in New York Appendix E. Guaranteed Ride Home Sampe Forms Appendix F. The Corne University Exampe: A Summary Appendix G. Federa Energy Poicy Act FIGURE 2 guidebook. Tabe of contents of New York State ECO

4 134 TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH RECORD 1496 for the empoyer or for a specific work site of the organization, impement, market, manage and oversee, and monitor and evauate the ECO program. The guidebook provides sampe job descriptions of future ETCs. The foowing are major tasks that ETCs may carry out; their actua duties wi depend on commute options and support strategies chosen for their ECO programs. Conducting empoyee commute pattern surveys, Monitoring progress, Coordinating efforts, Providing personaized assistance, Cooperating with the oca transit operators, Promoting the ECO program, Attracting new empoyees to the ECO program, Cooperating with the oca administrative agency, and Keeping abreast of information about ECO programs. In order to do a these activities, a potentia ETC shoud have high motivation, an abiity to work with peope at a eves of the organization, creativity and independence in probem soving, commitment to foowing through and getting the detais right, famiiarity with marketing and promotion, and exceent interpersona and communication skis. PUTTING TOGETHER AN ECO PROGRAM Figure 3 shows a fowchart of activities invoved in putting together an ECO program at a work site. The entire procedure consists of the foowing activities: Estabishing a schedue, Informing the participants, Getting management support, Forming a program team, Getting union support, Conducting a worksite anaysis, Conducting a commute survey, Estabishing the trip-reduction targets, Seecting commute options and support strategies, Preparing a budget, Preparing an impementation pan, Marketing the ECO program, Impementing the ECO program, and Monitoring and evauating the ECO program. Some of the activities need to be repeated throughout the preparation and impementation stages. For instance, empoyees, regardess of whether they participate in the ECO program, need to be informed of the progress periodicay, and the program needs to be marketed continuousy to retain present participants and to attract new participants. CONDUCTING EMPLOYEE COMMUTE SURVEY The empoyee commute survey is the most important source of information on empoyee trave patterns. If an empoyer is in an ozone nonattainment area, the oca administrative agency wi provide the empoyer with standard survey forms. The guidebook, however, contains sampe forms with a sampe probem for use by vountariy-participating empoyers. Marketing of the empoyee commute survey was emphasized in the guidebook as necessary to getting an acceptabe response rate to the survey. Empoyees must be tod the purpose and importance of the survey. Severa tips to boost the response rate were given, incuding posters, memos (on e-mai, if avaiabe), discussions with managers in advance, and incentives. The survey data must be anayzed propery. The NY ECO reguations require affected empoyers to coect information to determine their work sites APOs, to compare with the target AVO of the area where the work sites are ocated and to estimate how many vehice trips must be reduced to meet the target APO. The sampe empoyee commute survey has two parts: Part I for the APO survey (Figure 4), and Part II for empoyee attitude survey (figure 5). The atter wi be extremey important in seecting appropriate cornmute options and support strategies, Based on the organization s current APO and the resuts of the attitude survey, the ETC needs to distribute the number of SOV trips to be reduced to various commute options, once an initia seection of options for the organization s ECO program is made. The abiity to estimate the atent demand or attraction of empoyees to each commute option wi be essentia for the ETC to achieve the target trip reduction. At the beginning, the ETC needs to make an educated guess as to how many empoyees wi actuay be diverted to specific commute options in the ECO program; however, as time goes by, the ETC wi earn more about the program s effectiveness and wi be abe to make better estimates. The guidebook provides a sampe estimation process, which uses the resuts of the commute survey and an attitude survey previousy

5 Saito et a. 135 (To be competed by the empoyer) Company/Organization Name: Work Location: Commute information for week of: d I- -& Name: 1. a. Home City/Town: b. Home Zip Code: 2. Usua Work Schedue: a) Report: b) Leave c) Hours worked per week: 3. What is the tota ength of your trip to work? a. Number of mies: b. Number of minutes: 4. Pease answer the foowing questions using the tabe beow. A. Using the "Commute options" codes isted beow, choose the one etter that best describes how you traveed to this work ocation each day ast week. If you did not report to this work ocation on a given day, pease choose one of the etters under "Reasons for not reponing". If you used more than one mode of transportation, choose the etter that represents how you traveed for the ast mode of the one-way commute trip (excuding waking as the ast mode). B. Write in the approximate time you reported to work each day ast week. Exampe Report Time COMMUTE REASONS FOR NOT OPTONS REPORTING Monday A Drive Aone Q Teecommute Day B Drive Aone due to (Work at Home) Report Time Disabiity R Reported to Another Monday C Pubic Transit (Subway, Location/Business Trip Tuesday Bus, Ferry Commuter S Compressed Work Wednesday Rai) Week Day off. Thursday D 2 Empoyee Vehicepoo T Day Off (vacation, sick Friday E 3 Empoyee Vehicepoo day, jury duty etc.) F 4 Empoyee Vehicepoo I: G 5 Empoyee Vehicepoo H 6 Empoyee Vehicepoo I 7+ Empoyee Vehicepoo J Taxi/Car Service K Motorcyce/Moped L Wak Ony M Bicyce N Aternative Fue Vehice Dua Fue Vehice P Other: Use ony if singe passenger, if other adut passengers to the worksite shared the ride, count as vehicepoo. FIGURE 4 Sampe APO survey form. competed. Figures 6, 7, and 8 show how this estimation may be done. In this exampe, the tota number of affected empoyees was 250, with a response rate of 76 percent. Since the rate was ess than 80 percent, it was necessary to compute the number of incompete surveys and nonrespondents, which was found to be 57, as shown in Figure 6. Then, the number of weeky empoyee trips per category was converted to its vehice equivaent using the criteria of the NY ECO reguations. There was a tota of 900 empoyee trips, and its vehice equivaent was (Figure 7). Using the resuts from these forms, the current worksite APO was computed as (Figure 8). Next, it was necessary to estimate the number of vehice trips to be reduced. The target APO for this exampe was The maxi-

6 I36 TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH RECORD 1496 mum weeky vehice equivaents was computed by dividing the number of affected empoyee trips by the target APO (1,185/1.56; see Figure 8). The estimated number of weeky vehice trips to be reduced to meet target APO is computed by subtracting the maximum weeky vehice equivaents aowed from the current tota number of vehice equivaents used in the worksite APO cacuation. The vaue is 193 (that is, ; see Figure 8) indicating the number of vehice trips that must be reduced by a combination of commute options. CHOOSING COMMUTE OPTIONS LOGICALLY The key to a successfu ECO program (that is, one that achieves the organization s targets with minima cost and disruption) is provid- ing a package of empoyee commute options that empoyees wi want to use. This requires choosing options that are right for the organization and reinforcing them with appropriate support strategies. Thus, the seection of commute options requires a good understanding of work site characteristics, organizationa cuture, and empoyee preferences. Empoyee preferences for commute options are generay infuenced by commuting time, commuting cost, and convenience. Which commute options can compete with the SOV on these three attributes wi be affected by work site characteristics and support strategies. A chapter of the guidebook discusses the steps of seecting commute options and support strategies. The ETC is guided by questions refecting the items discussed above. The guidebook contains the resuts of a study (4) of the effectiveness of various ECO programs in giving the ETC a sense of direction in choosing programs 5. In order to design an empoyee commute program that wi meet your needs and interests, we need to know your opinion of each commute option isted beow. DO NOT LEAVE BLANK. This is not a commitment to use any option. Note: For options A-E, state your opinion of using that mode one or more days per week, not necessariy a five. Answer this question even if you aready use one of the commute options isted beow. 6. If you were to use any of the methods of commuting isted above, what concerns woud you have? Choose no more than four that are most important to you. A. Longer commuting time E. Not having car with me J. Getting to work from station B. Need car for business F. Getting home in an emergency K. Dropping off & picking up my appointments G. cost chid/dependent at day care C. More dependent on others H. Parking at train station. L. Other (describe) D. Overcrowded buses or trains I. Persona safety at train station/park & ride ots FIGURE 5 Sampe empoyee attitude survey. (continued on next page)

7 Saito et a If you now drive aone to work, woud you consider changing to ridesharing, pubic transit, or other commuting aternative if any of the foowing services or incentives were avaiabe (CHECK ALL THAT APPLY) Yes No Maybe 8. Other issues/comments/ideas you have concerning NOT driving to work: FIGURE 5 (continued) appropriate for the organization, and in aowing the ETC to make an informed initia seection of site-specific commute options and support strategies. The specific seection questions isted in the guidebook can be found in Figure 9. The ist of questions is by no means an exhaustive one; its purpose is to guide the ETC in the right direction. Each question is foowed by a detaied discussion reated to that particuar question. The seection procedure consists of the foowing six steps: 1. Anayze the characteristics of the work site. 2. Anayze the empoyees preferences. The primary source of information wi be the empoyee commute survey. Obviousy, commute options that many empoyees have indicated as appeaing shoud be high on the ist to be considered. 3. Anayze the cuture of the organization and how it affects the fit between commute options and the organization. If there is an ECO project team, the ETC can ask for its input. Aso, a focus group of empoyees from different parts of the organization can be formed to assess preferences. 4. Make an initia seection for further consideration. 5. Seect support strategies. 6. Refine the seected commute options and support strategies and combine them into an ECO program package. DISCUSSIONS OF EACH EMPLOYEE COMMUTE OPTION The most important part of the NY ECO guidebook is the chapter on commute options; its detaied discussion of individua empoyee commute options wi give the ETC the whoe picture of particuar commute options that may be appropriate for the work site. Figure 2 ists the types of ECO discussed in the guidebook. A separate section is devoted to each commute option, containing in genera the foowing topics: description or definition, candidates, empoyer benefits, empoyee benefits, empoyer s roe, empoyer cost, empoyee cost, impementation steps, successfu cases, additiona resources, and sampe program-impementation schedue. These are essentia pieces of information for the ETC to make an educated decision in the options-seection process. The candidates subsection heps the ETC to quicky group potentia ECO participants into particuar types of commute options. The subsection on empoyer and empoyee benefits provides types of benefits that they can expect from the program. The subsection on the empoyer s roe indicates the eve of effort required to make the option a success; it stresses the importance of management support for a successfu program. Both empoyers and empoyees are cost conscious, and uness their choice is cost-effective, they wi not be attracted to the program. The ETC can earn from this subsection the types of costs that wi be incurred to operate a particuar commute option. The heart of each commute option subsection is the detaied ist of steps needed to set up that particuar option. Essentia steps in impementing the commute option are discussed in order in pain Engish. The subsection on successfu cases briefy presents one or two successfu programs aong with their backgrounds for the ETC to earn from them as we as to be encouraged by their successes. The subsection on additiona resources gives tites of a few reports recommended for further information about the option. Finay, the sampe program-impementation schedue subsection gives the ETC a time frame for impementing the option.

8 138 TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH RECORD 1496 RESPONSE RATE: AI Tota Number of affected empoyees AI 250 A2 Number of affected empoyees absent during the week A2 13 A3 Number of affected empoyees to survey (target popuation): Subtract A2 from A1 A3=A-A2 231 A4 Number of compete surveys returned by target survey popuation A4 180 A5 Response Rate: Divide A4 by A3 A5= 76% (A4/A3)x100 A6 (Compete ony if response rate is ess than 80%) A6= A3 - A4 Number of incompete surveys and non-respondents: Subtract A4 from A3 affected empoyees are those empoyees that report Io the worksite between 6:00 and AM. Monday through Friday. FIGURE 6 Sampe response rate cacuation worksheet. DISCUSSIONS OF EACH SUPPORT STRATEGY Another chapter has simiar detaied discussions of individua support strategies. Figure 2 ists the types of support strategies incuded in the guidebook. The subsections for support strategies foow a structure simiar to the commute-options subsections: description, when it works, empoyer benefits, empoyee benefits, empoyer s roe, empoyer cost, empoyee cost, impementation steps, sampe (or successfu) cases, additiona resources, and sampe programimpementation schedue when avaiabe. The description subsection provides in detai kinds of approaches avaiabe for a particuar type of support strategy. For instance, three approaches to parking management are discussed: charging for parking, creating preferentia parking, and reducing parking suppy. Some parking-management strategies are more appicabe to certain work sites than others. Therefore, in the subsection on when it works, the appropriateness of various parking-management strategies to the empoyer s work site is addressed. The subsections on empoyer and empoyee benefits and costs present types of costs that may be incurred by the program. The roe of an empoyer is crucia in parking management, because the empoyer can infuence whether or not to provide free parking, and how much the empoyee has to pay. The subsection on impementation steps contains steps for successfu impementation of parking management. This writing stye avoids rhetorica arguments on the good and bad aspects of parking management. IMPORTANCE OF MONITORING AND EVALUATION Monitoring wi te the ETC whether the ECO program has achieved the organization s goa or not, and how the program can be improved. Monitoring aso enabes the ETC to maintain participation after initia enthusiasm has worn off and empoyees are returning to od habits. The four most common parameters used for monitoring the ECO program are APO, participation rates, empoyees attitudes and concerns, and program costs. Evauation means the interpretation of the records to determine what works and what does not work, identify where probems exist, and figure out how to improve the program. Monitoring and evauation are essentia to achieve the foowing goas: To prove the empoyer s compiance with the NY ECO reguations; To understand better the factors that impede or encourage the use of aternative empoyee commute options; To determine how to increase empoyee participation and APO; To increase the cost-effectiveness of the ECO program; To make effective progress reports to management, empoyees and other interested parties: and Ensure that ony eigibe empoyees receive participation incentives.

9 Number of weeky empoyee trips per category Conversion to Vehice vehice equivaents equivaent A Drive Aone 604 Divide by B Drive Aone due to Disabiity 5 Mutipy by zero 0 C Pubic Transit 60 Mutipy by zero 0 D 2 Empoyee Vehicepoo 20 Divide by 2 10 E 3 Empoyee Vehicepoo 45 Divide by 3 15 F 4 Empoyee Vehicepoo Divide by 4 3 G 5 Empoyee Vehicepoo 1 H 6 Empoyee Vehicepoo Divide by 5 Divide by I 7+ Empoyee Vehicepoo Mutipy by zero 0 J Taxi/Car Service 12 Divide by 1 12 K Motorcyce/Moped 15 Divide by 1 15 L Wak Ony 20 by zero 0 M Bicyce 15 Mutipy by zero 0 N Aternative Fue Vehice - Mutipy by zero 0 O Dua Fue Vehice 5 Divide by Q Teecommute Day (Work at Home) R Reported to Another Location/Business Trip S Compressed Work Week, Day Off. 5 Mutipy by zero 0 - Mutipy by zero 0 10 Mutipy by zero 0 R1 Tota Empoyee Trips (sum row A through S) R2 Tota Vehice 667. Equivaents FIGURE 7 Sampe empoyee trips and vehice equivaents cacuation worksheet.

10 140 TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH RECORD 1496 APO Cacuation: B1 Number of empoyee trips to the worksite (transfer vaue RI here) BI = R1 900 B2 If the response rate was ess than 80%, mutipy the number of non-respondents, vaue A6, by 5 (days) B2 = A6 x 5 B3 Number of affected empoyee trips to be used for the APO cacuation: Number of vehice equivaents to be used in the worksite APO cacuation B4 Tota number of vehice equivaents to the worksite (transfer vaue R2 here) B5 If the response rate was ess than 80%, mutipy the number of non-respondents, vaue A6, by 5 (days) B5= A6 x 5 B6 Tota number of vehice equivaents to be used for the APO cacuation: B7 CURRENT WORKSITE APO (divide B3 by B6) B8 Your target APO is ( see reguations) B9 Maximum weeky vehice equivaents aowed if target is to be achieved (divide B3 by B8) B 10 Number of weeky vehice trips to be reduced to meet target APO 193 FIGURE 8 Sampe APO cacuation worksheet. Monitoring and evauation enabe the ETC to answer in timey manner questions that may be posed by management, the union, and empoyees. The foowing are potentia questions: What is happening to the worksite s APO? How much did the ECO program cost ast year? How much did each empoyee commute option cost? How much did the support strategies and incentive programs cost? How are program costs reated to changes in empoyee participation? Which support strategies or incentives and disincentives had the greatest impact on empoyees decisions to use aternative modes? Did the number of participants increase after specia marketing or promotiona events? How much did these events cost ast year? How successfu have the seected commute options been in achieving the goas and objectives of the program? Effective monitoring and evauation are absoutey essentia for the ETC to continue the ECO program and achieve the goas that were set forth in the beginning of the program. SUMMARY There have been severa outstanding TDM or ECO guidebooks. The NY ECO guidebook buids on previousy pubished ECO guidebooks and the resuts of many reated studies. The NY ECO guidebook is the product of a iterature search, an empoyer survey and the cooperation of the advisory committee.

11 A. Questions for Seecting Commute Options Worksite Environment: Is your worksite adequatey served by transit? Is your worksite ocated in a ow density area? Do many of your empoyees ive nearby and is your worksite in an area with good sidewaks? Does your organization have a motor poo? Is your organization having difficuty finding workers with some specific ski in the vicinity of the worksite? Does your organization operate extended hours or around the cock? Emdoyee Characteristics: Do many of the empoyees work on computers or spend a significant amount of time teephoning? Do one or severa of your empoyees currenty bicyce o work? B. Questions for Seecting Support Strategies Is your worksite ocated in an industria or office park or in an area with severa other simiar organizations? Does your organization provide free (or inexpensive) and convenient parking? FIGURE 9 Questions asked in commute options and support strategies seection process. This ECO guidebook can hep empoyers educate new ETCs who are not famiiar with transportation programs. This guidebook is comprehensive, definitive, and written in pain Engish. It describes the activities that the ETCs must carry out to deveop and impement an ECO program. Three support strategies were found to be especiay important for making ECO programs work and ast. They are the guaranteed ride home, parking management, and the commitment of upper management. Many successfu programs had a combination of commute options and support strategies to meet the needs of participating empoyees. Guaranteed ride home programs are reported to be very ow in cost because of the nature of such programs, that is, back-up transportation for emergencies. Some specific references made in the Guidebook naturay pertain ony to New York state; however, the majority of the discussions found in the guidebook are appicabe to programs in other states and shoud be instructive to a empoyers interested in reducing the number of SOV commuters. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The preparation of the NY ECO guidebook was made possibe through funding from the NYSDOT, the NYSEO, and the U.S. Department of Transportation through its UTRC program. The authors of this paper and the guidebook wish to acknowedge the members of the advisory committee, who provided their vauabe input throughout the project. Last but not the east, the authors thanks go to their capabe, hardworking graduate research assistants, Rizwan Ahmed of the City Coege of New York and Jose Darsin of Poytechnic University. REFERENCES 1. Saito, M., C. McKnight, E. Prassas, R. Paaswe, J. Facocchio, R. Ahmed, J. Darsin, and D. Heinrich. Empoyee Commute Options Guidebook. Fina Report. New York State Department of Transportation; New York State Energy Office; Institute for Transportation Systems of the City University of New York, May New York State Department of Transportation. The Metropoitan New York Empoyee Commute Options Reguations. Transportation Law Section 12(31). 3. Ancar, R., and D. Kimme. Empoyer Based Trave Demand Management Panning: Handbook for Impementation. Urban and Corridor Panning Bureau, New York State Department of Transportation, Abany, Aug Comsis Corporation and Institute for Transportation Engineers. Impemeiiting Effective Trave Demand Management Measures: Inventory of Measures and Synthesis of Experience. Report DOT-T US. Department of Transportation, Sept ECO Guidebook: Transportation Management Package. Connecticut Department of Transportation, Hartford, Guaranteed Ride Home: Taking the Worry Out of Ridesharing: A Handbook to Hep Set Up a Program at Your Company. Commuter Transportation Services, Inc., Los Angees, Caif. (n.d.). 7. Impementing Transportation Demand Management Programs. Proc., ITE Educationa Foundation Seminar, Proc. Vos. 1 and 2. Institute of Transportation Engineers, Washington, D.C., Jan Rue 210, Empoyee Transportation Coordinator Handbook, 3rd ed. Ventura County Air Poution Contro District, Caifornia, Jan Summary of Transportation Demand Management Program (TDMP). Office of Transportation Services, Corne University, Ithaca, N.Y., Dec , Stewart, J, EmpIoyee Transportation Coordinator Monitoring and Evauation Workbook. Commuter Transportation Services, Inc., Los Angees, Caif. (n.d.). Pubication of this paper sponsored by Committee on Ridesharing.