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Best Workplaces for CommutersSM
[EVENT]
[LOCATION]
[DATE]
[SPEAKER]
[ORGANIZATION]
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[YOUR CITY] Traffic Facts
• [INSERT FACTS HERE]
3
National Perspective on Local Traffic Woes
• Problem for energy security
– Our cars burn 8.5 million barrels of oil each day –
42.5% of total U.S. daily oil consumption
– 2.3 billion gallons of fuel are wasted each year
due to engines idling in traffic jams
• Problem for businesses and workers
– “Rush hour” now 6 to 7 hours per day
– Total traffic delay now 3.7 billion hours per year
– $63 billion per year in lost
worker productivity and fuel
4
Commuting and the Environment
• Vehicle emissions contribute to air
pollution and global climate change
– 1 gal. gasoline = 20 lbs. of climate change pollution (CO2)
– Passenger vehicles cause 20% of U.S. climate change pollution
• Air pollution and global climate change
are on the rise
– Miles driven have nearly tripled since 1970, rising to 3 trillion
miles per year
– SUVs and minivans account for
half of all vehicles sold and pollute
more than cars
– In the U.S., almost 80% of all
commuting trips are “drive-alone”
5
Costs to Commuters
• Commuting costs American
workers money
– Average gasoline cost of $700/year
(assuming $2.42/gallon)
• Commuting costs American
workers time
– Almost 500 vehicle trips/year
– 16 to 47 high-stress hours delayed
in traffic, tripled since 1982
6
Is Change Possible?
These facts indicate --- YES!
• Rising gas prices are influencing
commuter behavior
(National Commuter Survey, Sept/Oct. 2005)
• 39% now seeking carpool and transit opportunities.
• 55% anticipate changing behavior if commuter benefits
were offered by their employers.
• 25% anticipate using commuter benefits at least
3 times per week.
• In addition (2001 Career Builder Survey, HR Magazine, Oct. 2001)
• Nearly 50% of workers describe their
commute as unsatisfying or stressful.
• 36% of workers would take a 10%
pay cut for a shorter commute.
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How Do We Encourage Change?
• Offer commuter benefits!
– Employees with commuter benefits are more than
4 times more likely to use transit than those who
don’t have them. (2001 Xylo Survey)
– U.S. employers spend $36 billion
annually on employee parking.
(KPMG Peat Marwick study)
8
What Commuter Benefits Can Do
• When employers provide an outstanding
level of commuter benefits, 10% to 20% of
employees will shift transportation “modes”
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What is Best Workplaces for CommutersSM?
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and
Department of Transportation nationally recognize
employers that meet or exceed a National Standard
of Excellence in commuter benefits
• As of February 2006, EPA has recognized
– 1,500 employers
– 20 Best Workplaces for
Commuters Districts
– 3 million commuters are covered
• Hundreds of supporting organizations
in cities across the country are helping
promote Best Workplaces for
Commuters
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Meeting the Standard of Excellence
1. Designate contact person, centralize
information, and disseminate benefits
information to employees
2. Offer excellent commuter benefits package
– Guaranteed/Emergency Ride Home program
– One of four primary options
– Three or more supporting options
(only 1 if < 20 employees)
3. Meet participation level (14% non-drive alone)
4. Report success
– Annual electronic check-in
– Some employers selected to collaborate with EPA on
an employee survey
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Primary Commuting Options
Choose one:
•
•
•
•
Transit/vanpool subsidy
Telework
Parking cash-out
Employer proposal
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Supporting Commuting Options
Choose 3
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
(only 1 if < 20 employees):
Active membership in TMA
Bike lockers and showers
Co-located with shops, day care, etc.
Preferred parking for carpools/vanpools
Compressed/flexible work schedules
Rideshare matching
Awards program
Shuttles
For other options,
visit the BWC Web site
13
How Employers are Meeting the Standard
Primary Benefits Offered
(total is greater than 100% as som e
em ployers offer m ultiple benefits)
Tr
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C
as
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90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
14
Employers qualifying as Best
Workplaces for CommutersSM are
•Innovative
•Competitive
•Savvy
•Progressive
•Leaders
15
Why Employers Become
Best Workplaces for CommutersSM
Distinguishes them
from the competition:
• Gives an advantage in recruiting
& retaining the best employees
• Showcases their superior
commuter benefits
Demonstrates their
environmental leadership:
• Shows they care about community quality of life
• Helps alleviate road congestion and improve air quality
• Provides recognition that senior management
appreciates
16
Why Employers Become
Best Workplaces for CommutersSM
• Makes good business sense:
– Can save employers money and
reduce demand for parking spaces
– Provides a benefit that employees
value
– Helps meet government trip
reduction goals, if applicable
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Why Communities are promoting
Best Workplaces for CommutersSM
• Helps meet air quality requirements and
reduces traffic congestion
- In Houston, Best Workplaces for Commuters is part of
the metro-regional strategy to meet air quality standards
and part of the Houston State Implementation Plan
- 245,192 employees covered in 2005 (100% increase over 2004)
- Environmental and Energy Impacts (2005):
Vehicle miles reduced - 266 million miles per year
Gasoline saved - 12+ million gallons
CO2 emissions avoided - 122,000 metric tons
NOx emissions avoided- 300 tons per year
• Strategy for local Economic Development
- In Atlanta, Cumberland Galleria Business District
contributes to local economy
- 60,000 employees covered
- Developers finance commuter benefits to attract and retain
tenants
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National Program Results
as of February 2006
• Best Workplaces for Commuters has
designated:
- 1500 employers
- 20 BWC Districts
- 3 million employees covered in 32 states
• Metro area campaigns have expanded to
more than 15 metro areas
• Annual energy and pollution savings
-
178 million gallons of gas
$429 million (average 2006 price of $2.42/gal.)
1.56 million metric tons CO2
4200 tons NOx
2300 tons VOCs
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Program Trends
20
Business Case: Tax and Cost Savings
Salary Increase vs. Transit Subsidy Monthly Comparison
Employer Cost Comparison
Initial Cost
FICA Cost (7.65%)
Parking Space Operational Costs
Corporate Inc. Tax Savings (40%)
Net Employer Cost/ Month
Salary Increase Transit Subsidy
$50.00
$4.00
$50.00
-$41.60
$62.40
$50.00
$0.00
$0.00
-$20.00
$30.00
Employee Benefit Comparison
Initial Benefit
FICA Cost (7.65%)
Federal Income Tax (28 %)
State Income Tax (6 %)
Net Employee Benefit/ Month
Salary Increase Transit Subsidy
$50.00
$50.00
-$4.00
-$14.00
-$3.00
$29.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$50.00
* Parking Cost data from International Parking Institute 2004
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Best Workplaces for Commuters Districts
• All employees within the district are offered commuter
benefits that meet the National Standard of Excellence
• Districts include business parks, downtown areas,
shopping centers, rural business centers, etc.
• Size of districts vary: 1,200 – 115,000 employees
• Currently, there are 20 BWC Districts in 7 states
Examples:
– Cumberland (Atlanta): Vanpool Subsidies
– City of Boulder: EcoPasses
– South Florida Education Center: Free shuttles
connecting 5 campuses with transit
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Promoting Commuter Benefits at
largest U.S. Companies
•
EPA and community partners are
challenging companies from the
FORTUNE 500 to offer outstanding
benefits to their employees
•
In the Fall of 2005, EPA released its
2nd annual list from the FORTUNE 500
−
−
−
Recognizing nearly 90 national
companies
Almost 600,000 employees covered
Saving 29+ million gallons of gasoline
per year
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2005 FORTUNE 500 - Top 20
Rank
Company
%
1
Intel
92%
2
QualCOMM
87%
2
Oracle
87%
4
Sun Microsystems
84%
5
Microsoft
83%
6
Cisco Systems
65%
6
Texas Instruments
65%
8
Advanced Micro
Devices
64%
9
Anadarko Petroleum
61%
10
Safeco Insurance
53%
Rank
Company
%
11
EMC
51%
12
Boeing
50%
13
Devon Energy
49%
13
El Paso
49%
13
Nike
49%
16
Hewlett-Packard
46%
17
IBM
45%
17
Reliant Energy
45%
17
Wyeth
44%
20
Apple Computer
42%
Ranking based on percentage of each company’s U. S. workforce at facilities that qualify as BWC
24
2005 FORTUNE 500 List
Employers with 10% or more
of employees covered
Applied Materials
Aetna
American Express
Calpine
CenterPoint Energy
Charles Scwab
ChevronTexaco
Colgate-Palmolive
Dynegy
ECOLAB Inc.
*in alphabetical order
Goodrich
Guidant Corporation
Ingram Micro
Mirant
New York Life Insurance
Nordstrom
Northwestern Mutual
Occidental Petroleum
PACCAR Inc.
Peabody Energy
Pitney Bowes
Raytheon
Southern Company
TIAA-CREF
Time Warner
Walt Disney
Washington Mutual
WellChoice (Empire Blue
Cross Blue Shield)
Wellpoint
Williams
Xerox
25
Media Across the Nation
•
New York Times, “Calling all
‘Commuter Choice’ employers”
•
Wall Street Journal, “EPA plans to
offer incentives to curb ‘sprawl’
pollution”
•
Detroit Free Press, “Commuting
pays: tired of traffic and air
pollution?”
•
Philadelphia Inquirer, “Some
companies offer cash to encourage
carpooling”
•
Oakland Tribune, “EPA launches
commuter incentive program”
•
Rocky Mountain News, “EPA pushes
benefit for commuters”
26
Human Resource Leaders Take Note
• HR News, “EPA, DOT challenge
employers…get on commuting
bandwagon”
• Employee Benefit News,
“Government initiative rewards
alternative transportation”
• WorldatWork’s Workspan,
“Employees give commuter benefits the
green light”
• Alliance for Work/Life Professionals
Work/Life Watcher, “Federal Initiative
rewards employers who provide
commuter benefits”
• Employee Benefits Digest,
“Commuter benefits: Employers get
green light”
27
[YOUR CITY] News Coverage
[INSERT LOCAL NEWS COVERAGE HERE]
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What Employers are Saying
“ Getting and retaining the best employees is critical to success in today’s
business world. Being recognized as a Best Workplaces for
CommutersSM is a win-win way to benefit your company, your
employees, and your community.”
- Hewlett-Packard Company (San Francisco Bay Area, CA)
“We became a Best Workplaces for CommutersSM to support our ‘triple
bottom line’ (people, planet, profits). This program contributes to our
social bottom line providing a fulfilling work experience; helps us care
for the environment; and allows us to be more competitive by
attracting the best employees to our company. This, of course,
contributes to our economic bottom line.”
- Idyll, Ltd. (Philadelphia, PA)
"Best Workplaces for CommutersSM complements our business programs
by recognizing employers who offer transit benefits to their
employees. Every time an employer subsidizes transit through an RTD
program, they're helping reduce the number of cars on the road,
which alleviates traffic problems for all of us."
- Regional Transportation District (Denver, CO)
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How to Participate
To learn more about becoming one of the
Best Workplaces for CommutersSM or
supporting a metro area campaign:
– Visit www.bwc.gov
– Call the Toll-Free Information Request Line
at 888 856-3131
– E-mail <bwc@epa.gov>
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