madhouse

We are out of parking spaces at work. Instead of spending capital on a parking lot expansion we are looking at incentive packages to promote walking/biking/public transportation/car pooling.

What does your company do?

matt.critchlow

A few ideas.

1)Offer to let employees purchase public transportation passes on a pre-tax basis. This might require partnering with the public trans office. I'm not sure. If you can go further, even providing a discount goes a long way. Here's an example of what is offered to employers in san diego:

https://www.sdmts.com/Marketing/EcoPass.asp

2)Services for cyclists, including bike racks/storage, showers, etc.

Just some quick thoughts, that's great your company is moving in that direction!

77midget

Mine doesn't do anything official or structured. I do get to keep my bike in my office, however. It is casual dress from Memorial Day to Labor Day as long as you are not meeting with customers or senior mgmt. Free fitness centers in almost every building (we are spread across a couple towns).

joelpalmer

(trying not to sound TOO pissy) Nothing. Great behavior from a health department

lil brown bat

Like nearly every other company that's located in a major city with a significant urban core, my company does not provide free parking. You wanna drive to work, you can pay for your own garage space. So, everyone walks, bikes or takes public transit.

Andy_K 

My company offers employees $30 per month toward the purchase of public transit tickets and provides a shuttle between the nearest light rail station and the office. This entices an absurdly small contingent (maybe 5%).

For biking, there are no incentives as such, but there are showers and lockers as well as ample bike parking. Bicycling is its own reward, so I don't think you need incentives. Make it practical and people will do it.

gemoose23

I work for a Minnesota Company:

Here they offer the following alternatives for commuting:

• Offer a subsidy ($75 bucks a month) for each company rider in a official Vanpool (https://www.vanpoolusa.com/Home/index.asp?OID=261)
• Free monthly MetroTransit Pass (Bus &/or Train)

My Current commute of 45 miles and I commute via Vanpool, but once the Train system gets built for the northwest suburbs of the Twin Cities, I plan on Biking to the train station then take the train & Bus in to the office. If I get accustomed to it enough, eventually I think I will bike to the Train Station and From the train station to the office. (approx 15 miles)

cg1985

My work lets me bring my bike inside, but that's really it. The building I work in only has about 6 employees, fat chance of getting a shower or bike rack.

The main office two blocks aways has bike racks, and I actually sent an article to HR about partnering with the public transport in the area and getting "yearly passes" for the employees who choose to sign up.

The City has a "get downtown initiative" to partner with business to give employees free passes for the whole year.

It passes through one part of the HR brass, it's on to the next part.

SaddleBags

Let me work from home full time.
They also provide subsidized public transit and a free shuttle bus from a satellite parking location.

ItoDoeblin

My company provides bike racks (I'm hounding them to get another because it's full), lockers, showers and a monthly incentive check for alternative commuters - bicyclers/walkers and carpoolers get $$, public transportation folks get a free transport pass. Its really good, actually.

cg1985

What company do you work for? Are they hiring?

hoverfly

at my co. you don't have to pay the well-below market rate for a downtown parking space (not much of an incentive); we do have locker rooms and indoor bike parking.

here are some ideas that may help:

if you don't have lockers/showers, check with a near-by gym or ymca for a "commuter plan" (i.e. shower and locker access only)

negotiate a discount at a local bike shop (see if you can get them to give your employees a 10% or more discount for showing up with an id badge) towards the purchase of gear and if possible, a bike.

provide a "free ride home" in case of emergency plan

set up some free bike training (how to repair a tire, maintenance, safety, etc) and/or set up an agreement/discount with a nearby bike store in the event of employee biking issues (i.e. discounted flat repair during the employee's work day so they can ride home that evening)

indoor bike rack or bike parking--you can fit a lot of bikes in a small space with hanging racks.

monthly drawings (coupon for bike shorts or something cool like that, you get 1 entry per bike commute day)

onsite PT (for knee injuries, etc)

make sure they have healthy food choices available from the cafeteria for lunch, snack and breakfast--might be easier to bike if you know you can pick up a good healthy breakfast at work after riding in and not have to worry about packing breakfast, snacks, lunch, etc.

clothing steamer in the locker room

relaxed dress code

print up bike route maps and hang them in break rooms

madhouse

How much $$ and how does the program work?

JeffS

My company does nothing.

I tried to get them to sign up for a local program that will give you a free ride home if you need it (either via taxi or rental car) but they wouldn't even sign up for that (a no-cost program).

I guess I should be happy that they "let" me keep my bike in the office, though I'd start looking for a new job if that were to ever change.

LanceMach

We have had a commuter benefit for several years. It lets us pay for transit passes or parking with pre-tax dollars. We use WageWorks to adminster the plan and have generally been happy with how it's been handled by them.

More recently (maybe 12 months ago), we've implemented RideSpring as an incentive for using alternative forms of transportation (alterntative meaning anything but driving alone). About a dozen prizes are given away each month ranging from a Starbucks gift card to $300 gift certificates at various places (I just happened to win one for REI and it paid for my Light and Motion headlight!). This is in place for our Bay Area offices (total of about 600 employees).

I'm also involved in an effort (with two of my co-workers who also commute by bike) to get Jerseys made up with our company logo (one of the guys is in our Creative Services department and he's put together a great design). These would be offered either free or at a greatly reduced price, to bike commuters. It helps that I'm in HR and my boss is very receptive to the idea!

ItoDoeblin

We are issued parking passes. Surrendering your pass gives you the weekly equivalent of $65/month (So like $16.25 per week)) They don't tax it because they rock. You earn the incentive for each week that you do not have a parking pass. Curiously, folks in carpools get more $ than those riding bikes, but I'm jsut happy to get something other than weird looks

We're publicly held, else I'd be happy to say the company name because I think they're great.

HardyWeinberg

My wife gets a buck or 2 a day that she doesn't drive a single occupancy car. And she gets a bus permit too. And she has a bike locker. Holy cow, it's a sweet setup. I get nothing. Well, they don't complain when I park my bike in a spare cubicle.

Soaring

My work does... they wont let bikes in the building and the only bike rack is a 10min walk across campus. What's ironic is all the 'healthy lifestyle' campaigns and save the environment crap they spew.

MyPC8MyBrain

My company pays $2.00 per day that you either bike, carpool, public transport, or get dropped off. Just tick the days off on a form, turn it in at the end of the month and it shows on your next check.

I believe that they also do a pre tax transit pass thing, but I've never looked into it.

Showers and an outside rack under the eye of security guards are other nice things.

EliteTempleton

My company does not do this, but you might consider making say 20% of your parking spaces, the ones closest to the front door, carpool parking only.

Well I guess they do kinda, they mark about 6 spots in the summer nearest the door as motorcycle/moped parking only. Maybe it's not carpooling but often they are using every seat in the vehicle...

vfrjim

Since my company does not want to install a bike rack, they allow me to bring my bike inside the building. It gets better air conditioning at work then I do at my desk

kbblodorn

How about this. Charge parking fees for everyone who drives. Use the money collected to upgrade bike/walk/carpool options. Once upgrades are done, split the parking money collected from the drivers with those who bike/walk/mass transit/car pool. When people realize that their money is going directly to their coworkers, they'll rethink their commute. Or leave. Either way, parking situation will get better.

TuckertonRR

Sounds like where I work. THere's a handful of commuters, and we have to find places for them, no bike rack, no support at all from management. we do, however, have showers (albeit, nobody uses them, & they're quite nasty). I'm campaigning currently to have them install bike racks