A Guidance Manual for Implementing Effective Employer-based Travel Demand Management Programs
Click HERE for graphic.
"A Guidance Manual for Implementing Effective Employer-based Travel
Demand Management Programs" is one three current reports available on
Travel Demand Management (TDM) provided by the Federal Highway
Administration and the Federal Transit Administration. The other two
reports are entitled "Implementing Effective Travel Demand Management
Measures: Inventory of Measures and Synthesis of Experience," and
"Overview of Travel Demand Management Measures." Other future,
planned, reports on this topic will address government-based TDM
programs and market research in TDM.
A microcomputer analysis tool (with documentation) for the evaluation
of TDM projects is also available through the University of Florida,
Center for Microcomputers in Transportation (McTrans), 512 Weil Hall,
Gainesville, Florida 32611-6585, 1-800-226-1013.
This report is intended to provide technical assistance to individuals
in the public and private sectors who are responsible for planning,
implementing, operating, and/or monitoring TDM activities. The report
is also intended to educate on the state-of-the-practice and guide in
the development of TDM programs.
Additional information on TDM may be obtained from:
The Office of Traffic Management/ITS (HTV-31)
Federal Highway Administration
400 Seventh Street, SW
Washington, D.C. 20590
202-366-4069
or
The Office of Mobility Enhancement (TTS-10)
Federal Transit Administration
400 Seventh Street, SW
Washington, D.C. 20590
202-366-0240
A GUIDANCE MANUAL FOR
IMPLEMENTING EFFECTIVE
EMPLOYER-BASED TRAVEL
DEMAND MANAGEMENT
PROGRAMS
Final Report
November 1993
Prepared by
Comsis Corporation
8737 Colesvile Road
Silver Spring, Maryland 20910
and
The Institute of Transportation Engineers
525 School Street, Suite 410
Washington, D.C. 20024-2797
in association with
Georgia Institute of Technology
K.T. Analytics, Inc.
R.H. Pratt, Consultant, Inc.
Prepared for
Federal Highway Administration &
Federal Transit Administration
U.S. Department of Transportation
400 Seventh Street SW
Washington, D.C. 20590
Distributed in Cooperation with
Technology Sharing Program
U.S. Department of Transportation
Washington, D.C. 20590
DOT-T-94-05
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter Page
Purpose and Use of the Manual 1
How This Manual Can Help You 1
Organization of the Manual 1
1. Introduction 3
What is Travel Demand Management? 3
Is TDM for Real? 4
Employer-Based versus Area-wide Programs 4
Impact of Site Characteristics 5
Effectiveness of Different TDM Strategies 6
Employer-Based TDM Program Examples 6
2. Why Implement a TDM Program? 9
Four Reasons to Implement TDM 9
Respond to Regulation 9
Solve a Site-Specific Transportation Problem 9
Expand Employee Benefits Package 10
Reduce Employer Costs 10
How Much TDM do You Need? 11
3. TDM Strategy Overview 12
Introduction 12
Commute Alternatives 12
Alternative Modes 12
Alternative Work Hours 14
TDM Strategies 17
Improvements to Alternative Modes 17
Financial Incentives 19
Parking Management Program 21
Information and Marketing 22
4. Process for Developing and Implementing a TDM Program 24
Program Development 24
Determine Program Goals and Define Baseline 24
Conduct Site Analysis 25
Identify and Select TDM Strategies 26
Build Management Support 27
Prepare Plan 27
Program Implementation 28
Program Evaluation and Refinement 28
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
(continued)
Chapter Page
5. Selecting TDM Strategies and Calculating Trip Reduction Impact 30
Purpose 30
Overview of Procedure 31
Step 1: Define Employment Type 31
Step 2: Identify Baseline Traffic Condition 31
Step 3: Define "Modal Bias 33
Step 4: Determine Peak Vehicle Trips (Optional) 33
Step 5: Set TDM Goal 33
Step 6: Develop TDM Program Options 34
Step 7: Perform Impact Assessment 34
Step 8: Evaluate Options 34
Application of Procedure 34
Step 1: Define Your Employment Type 35
Step 2: Define Your Baseline Traffic Conditions
(Starting AVR) 35
Step 3: Define Your Modal "Bias 37
Step 4: Calculate Peak Vehicle Trips (Optional) 39
Step 5: Set TDM Goal 39
Step 6: Develop TDM Program Options 41
Step 7: Estimate Trip Reduction Impacts 50
Example Application 50
Appendix A - Modal Shift Trip Reductions Factors A-1
Appendix B - Blank Worksheets B-1
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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure Page
1 Schematic of Program Evaluation Methodology 32
2 Modal Shift Trip Reduction Factors 45
3 Sample Calculation of Average Vehicle Ridership (AVR) 52
4 Sample Established Trip Reduction Targets 54
5 Sample Determination of Modal Bias 55
6 Sample TDM Impact Worksheet (Trial 1) 57
7 Sample TDM Impact Worksheet (Trial 2) 58
8 Sample TDM Program Test Summary Table 59
9 Sample TDM Impact Worksheet (Trial 3) 60
10 Sample TDM Impact Worksheet (Trial 4) 61
LIST OF WORKSHEETS
1 Calculation of Average Vehicle Ridership (AVR) 36
2 Determination of Modal Bias 38
3 Calculation of Peak Vehicle Trips (Optional) 40
4 Establish Trip Reduction Targets 42
5 TDM Impact Worksheet 43
6 TDM Program Test Summary Table 51
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EMPLOYER-BASED TDM PROGRAM GUIDANCE MANUAL
PURPOSE AND USE OF THE MANUAL
How This Manual Can Help You
In recent years, worksite travel demand management (TDM) has become
increasingly accepted as a tool to reduce peak period traffic
congestion and air pollution, and help solve transportation-related
problems at individual worksites. Recognizing its potential benefits,
a growing number of businesses are embracing TDM programs. Further,
in response to federal and state legislation, many states and local
areas are encouraging or requiring employers to implement TDM programs
at their worksites.
If you are reading this, it is likely that you are considering
developing a TDM program. If you are like most employers, however,
you probably have had little exposure to commute management. Numerous
documents are available to guide employers in implementing and
marketing TDM programs, but little guidance has been offered on TDM
program planning and TDM strategy selection. As a result, many TMD
programs are ineffective or were developed by an inefficient process
of trial and error. This manual is designed to help employers,
developers, property owners and managers, transportation management
associations (TMAs), TDM consultants. It is also meant to benefit
others planning, implementing, or evaluating employer-based TDM
programs to create, with a minimum of experimentation, programs that
are effective in reducing commute trips.
This manual suggests a process for TDM development and implementation,
and offers guidance on the selection of effective TDM strategies. It
will help you develop a more effective TDM program in less time and
with less frustration. It provides an overview of the "big picture"
of TDM planning, then guides you in identifying what strategies make
sense for you, and in determining how much of those strategies you
need to achieve a desired or required trip reduction. By choosing
just the right level of effort not too little, not too much -you will
reap the benefits of a successful TDM program with a minimum of time
and money expended.
Organization of the Manual
The manual is divided into five chapters and three appendices:
Chapter 1 Introduction
Chapter 2 Why Develop a TDM Program?
Chapter 3 TDM Strategy Overview
Chapter 4 Recommended Process for TDM Planning and Implementation
Chapter 5 Selecting TDM Strategies and Calculation of Impact
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Appendix A TDM Impact Estimation Look-up Tables
Appendix B Blank TDM Impact Assessment Worksheets
Appendix C References and Resources
Chapter 1 presents an overview of travel demand management (TDM) and
explains TDM's role in congestion and air quality management. Chapter
2 discusses the typical reasons TDM programs are implemented and the
benefits they can offer employers. Chapter 3 defines common TDM
strategies and highlights the applications of each one at a worksite.
Chapter 4 presents a process to develop an employer-based TDM program,
and outlines six basic steps that should be undertaken as part of the
process.
Chapter 5, the heart of the manual, offers guidance on selecting TDM
strategies to produce a needed level of trip reduction. This chapter,
and Appendices A and B that accompany it, presents a series of
worksheets and look-up tables with which you can estimate trip
reduction impacts of individual TDM strategies and packages of
strategies. These tables can be used to test the trip reduction
impacts of various packages of TDM strategies you might be
considering. Alternatively, working in the reverse direction, you can
use the tables to identify packages of strategies that will produce a
desired level of trip reduction.
The primary purpose of this document is to guide employers in
selecting TDM strategies. As Chapter 4 of the guide explains, this is
only one of many steps in developing and implementing a TDM program.
Advanced guidance also is available on TDM marketing research, program
promotion and marketing, program evaluation, and other TDM topics.
The appendix lists information sources for readers who want to go
beyond the basics.
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1. INTRODUCTION
WHAT IS TRAVEL DEMAND MANAGEMENT?
Travel demand management (TDM) is not one action, but rather a set of
actions or strategies, the goal of which is to encourage travelers to
use alternatives to driving alone, especially at the most congested
times of the day.
The term TDM encompasses both alternative modes to driving alone and
the techniques, or strategies, that encourage use of these modes. TDM
alternatives include familiar travel options such as:
- Carpools and vanpools
- Public and private transit (including buspools and shuttles)
- Bicycling, walking, and other non-motorized travel
TDM alternatives also can include "alternative work hours," program
options that reduce the number of days commuters need to travel to the
worksite, or that shift commuting travel to non-peak period times of
the day. Alternative work hours include:
- Compressed work weeks, in which employees work a full 40-hour
work week in fewer than the typical 5 days;
- Flexible work schedules, which allow employees to shift their
work start and end times (and thus travel times) to less
congested times of the day; and
- Telecommuting, in which employees work one or more days at home
or at a "satellite work center" closer to their homes.
TDM strategies include improvements in alternative modes of
transportation; financial and/or time incentives for commuters who use
alternative modes; information dissemination and marketing activities
that heighten travelers' awareness of and/or interest in alternatives;
and supporting services that make the use of alternatives more
convenient or that remove psychological impediments to use of
alternatives. Examples of TDM strategies are:
- Improvements to existing transportation services, such as
shuttle buses and vanpool programs;
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- Financial/time incentives, for example, preferential parking
for ridesharers, subsidies for transit riders, and
transportation allowances;
- Parking management programs;
- Priority treatment for ridesharers, for example, high occupancy
vehicle (HOV) lanes and freeway ramps; and
- Employer support measures, such as employee transportation
coordinators, on-site transit pass sales, on guaranteed ride
home programs; and
- Marketing and promotion, such as transportation fares and
periodic prize drawings for ridesharers.
Most TDM programs include some combination of these strategies, chosen
to encourage commuters to use the commute alternatives that are
appropriate for the area and population in which they are to be
implemented. A TDM program can be targeted to an entire area, such as
a city or county; to a highway corridor, often one that is
significantly congested or undergoing reconstruction; to a small local
area, such as an employment park; or to a single site. Although many
of the principles of TDM program development are universal, not all
strategies are common to all situations. This manual focuses on the
last situation, TDM programs developed for a single site, specifically
an employment site - an employer-based TDM program.
IS TDM FOR REAL?
The primary goal of most TDM programs is to reduce commute trips in a
particular area and/or at a particular time of day. Research
conducted throughout the country has shown that a TDM program can be
very effective, reducing vehicle trips by as much as 30 or 40 percent
if properly conceived and implemented. Program effectiveness varies
widely, however, by program type, by site, and by the TDM strategies
chosen.
EMPLOYER-BASED VERSUS AREA-WIDE PROGRAMS
Of the four TDM program situations described above (regional,
corridor, activity center, and employment site) employer-based TDM
programs often are the most effective in reducing trips. TDM
strategies can be chosen to meet a relatively narrow set of worksite
characteristics, operational characteristics, and commuters'
demographic and travel characteristics. Information dissemination can
be targeted precisely to the employees most likely to use the
alternatives, and offered in a personalized manner that eases
commuters' transition to an unfamiliar travel mode. Further,
employers can establish a "corporate culture" that affirms employees'
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decision to use a commuting alternative. These factors combine to
create El favorable atmosphere for trip reduction.
Area-wide programs are less likely to result in large reductions in
commute trips because they must accommodate greater diversity in the
factors that influence commuters' choice of travel mode. For example,
availability of travel options such as public transit, the distance
commuters travel to work, the flexibility they have in when they
travel, and worksite characteristics and conditions all influence
commuters travel mode choices. Further, research has shown that
commuters are more responsive to TDM strategies when they are
presented at the worksite, even if sponsored by a regional group.
Thus, the success of an area-wide program depends heavily on the
extent to which individual employers support the program. Since
generally, not all employers will fully participate, administrators of
the area-wide program cannot expect to reach the trip reduction
percentage of an employer acting alone at a worksite.
IMPACT OF SITE CHARACTERISTICS
Research by several groups has shown that the physical characteristics
of the site, and characteristics of the employer and employees, also
affect the success of a TDM program. Although successful employer-
based TDM programs occur in a wide variety of settings, the most
effective programs often share several characteristics:
- the employer is located in an area of high employment density,
as in a downtown area;
- employee parking is restricted or constricted;
- public transit service is frequent and wide spread;
- employees have access to high-occupancy-vehicle (HOV)
facilities;
- the work force includes few employees in professional or
management positions or many employees in service and skilled
labor positions; and
- a significant number of employees commute relatively long
distances (greater than 15 miles)
Programs in areas that exhibit these site and employment conditions
have a natural advantage in reducing vehicle trips because the
conditions offer employees more alternatives to driving alone, make it
easier to use those alternatives, or make it less attractive to drive
alone. For example, as the number of transit lines increases, more
employees will find a bus line and schedule that fits their travel
needs. (Conversely, a shortage of employee parking makes it harder to
find a space each morning and encourages employees to consider travel
alternatives such as vanpooling, in which
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they do not need to drive and park. Sites that have these "TDM
favorable" conditions can be expected to produce greater trip
reduction for a given set of TDM strategies than another site with
less favorable conditions.
EFFECTIVENESS OF DIFFERENT TDM STRATEGIES
Finally, the level of trip reduction that can be achieved at a given
site depends on the types and levels of TDM strategies implemented.
In general, the most effective strategies are those that offer
commuters a time or financial incentive to shift from driving alone to
an alternative mode. As the sayings go, "time is money" and "money
talks." Commuters respond, not surprisingly, to strategies that offer
a tangible value. Thus, direct transit subsidies, which put dollars
in a transit rider's pocket, and preferential parking, which offers
carpoolers prime parking spaces near the building entrance, are
strategies that have been shown to influence commuters' choice of
commute mode. Further, the higher the value of the incentive, the
better the employee response.
Strategies must, however, be appropriate to the site at which they are
implemented. Transit subsidies would have little value at a location
that has little or no transit service. Similarly, a company-sponsored
vanpool program would attract few employees in a company where most
employees commuted very short distances. A bicycling or walking
subsidy could be effective at this company, however, as these modes
and this subsidy would target short-distance commuters. The key to
maximizing the effectiveness of your TDM program is to determine what
alternatives your employees would be able to use, and build your
program around incentives that most strongly encourage use of those
modes. The Market Research and Evaluation Guidance Manual, a
companion to this document, will provide assistance in determining the
characteristics and particular needs of your employee population and
environment.
EMPLOYER-BASED TDM PROGRAM EXAMPLES
There are numerous examples of highly effective employer-based TDM
programs across the country. Consider the following:
San Diego Trust & Savings Bank,
located in downtown San Diego, offers its 500 employees a 125
percent transit subsidy. The company provides no employee
parking, but employees who choose to drive are given a parking
allowance, to be used to purchase parking in an off-site garage
($100 per month average market cost). Ridesharers receive a
higher allowance (up to $ 100 per month) than those who drive
alone ($55 per month). Thirty-seven percent of the bank's 500
employees use transit, substantially higher than the 19 percent
average transit use for all employers in the Central Business
District. The bank also has a significant carpool share of 14
percent. This use of commute
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alternatives represents a 23 percent trip reduction compared to
all downtown employers, and a 28 percent reduction compared to
other downtown banks.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
located in North Bethesda, MD (suburban Washington, D.C.), has
limited on-site parking (365 spaces on site for 1,400 employees)
and charges employees $60 per month for parking. Although the
area is primarily auto-oriented, the site is 1/2 block from a
regional subway station and has reasonable public bus service.
The agency provides guaranteed parking for carpools, offers on-
site sales of subsidized transit passes (subsidy provided by
Montgomery County, since as a federal government agency, NRC is
not allowed to subsidize employee travel), and heavily promotes
commute alternatives). This combination of measures has resulted
in a mode split of 42 percent drive-alone, 27 percent carpools and
28 percent transit. This is compared to a mode split for the
surrounding area of 90 percent drive-alone, 6 percent carpools and
4 percent transit.
US West,
a telecommunications company, is located in Bellevue, WA, a suburb
east of Seattle. When it consolidated its regional operations at
a new Bellevue location, US West faced a restriction on parking
(by city regulation) and a requirement to implement a TDM program.
US West implemented the following program: limited on-site parking
(408 spaces for 1, 1 50 employees), parking charge of $60 per
month for drive-alone, $45 for two-person carpools, and no charge
for pools of three or more, reserved parking for HOV, flexible
work hours, and an on-site transportation coordinator. As a
result, only 26 percent of US West's employees drive alone, and
the company generates 47 percent fewer trips than other downtown
Bellevue employers.
GEICO,
in Friendship Heights, MD, developed a TDM program when it
consolidated 2,500 employees into a new headquarters in this
medium density "suburban downtown." Parking is somewhat
restricted, but the site is within a few blocks of a regional
subway station. GEICO's TDM plan included: restricted on-site
parking (1,020 spaces for 2,500 employees) and parking fees of $30
to $60/month in a garage and $1 0/month in a surface lot. Other
TDM measures included free parking and reserved spaces for
carpools and vanpools, a subsidized vanpool program, and transit
subsidies. Only 40 percent of GEICO's employees drive-alone, 20
percent rideshare, and 31 percent use transit. Compared to a
nearby area with similar parking conditions and levels of transit
service, GEICO produces 39 percent fewer vehicle trips.
Transamerica Life Companies,
an insurance company with more than 3,000 employees, is located 1
0 blocks south of downtown Los Angeles. Transamerica Life's TDM
program, which developed over a period of 13 years, includes: a
vanpool program (leased vans; maintenance, insurance, and
administration provided), parking charge of $35 to $62/month
(market rate of
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$100); free parking for vanpools and parking discount for
carpools, and transit subsidy of $15/month. The company supports
these financial elements with a guaranteed ride home program,
emergency use of company cars, work hours flexibility, and bike
racks and shower/locker facilities. As a result of these
measures, fewer than 50 percent of Transamerica employees drive
alone (21 percent carpool, 14 percent transit, 19 percent vanpool)
and the company generates 20 percent fewer trips than other
downtown Los Angeles employers.
Bellevue City Hall,
in Bellevue, WA (suburban Seattle) employs approximately 600
people in a small business complex outside the Bellevue downtown.
Transit service at the site is limited, making access dependent on
private vehicles. To encourage use of alternative modes, the city
implemented the following TDM strategies: employees who drive
alone pay a parking charge of $30 per month, those who
carpool/vanpool at least 60 percent of the time park free and are
given priority parking. Employees who use commute alternatives at
least 80 percent of the time are given an additional subsidy of
$15 to $25 per month. As a result of the program, nearly 50
percent of City Hall employees use transit, carpools, vanpools, or
other alternatives, representing 26 percent fewer vehicle trips
than other sites in the region. Further, as parking fees are used
to subsidize alternative modes, the net cost of the program to the
city is zero.
Varian Company
The Varian Company employs about 4,500 people, 3,200 of whom work
in a suburban office complex in Palo Alto, CA. Parking at the
site is free, but not abundant, and bus transit is reasonably
available in the area. Varian's TDM program includes: a 25
percent transit pass discount and on-site transit pass sales, and
promotion of carpooling, cycling, and transit. With this program,
Varian reduced its vehicle trips by 18 percent. Only 62 percent
of its employees drive alone, 21 percent carpool, 3 percent
vanpool, and 8 percent use transit.
Ventura County Government Center
Ventura County, CA (west of Los Angeles) employs about 2,700
people at its suburban headquarters site. Neither the county or
the site is well-served by transit, and the site has abundant,
free onsite parking. The county initiated a TDM program in 1990,
in response to a county air quality regulation. To offer
employees daily flexibility in choice of mode, the county
implemented a cash incentive that rewards employees based on the
number of days they don't drive alone during the year, regardless
of the alternative used. Employees receive one "point" for every
day of the year they do not drive alone to work. Employees who
accumulate 144 points (average of three times per week) receive a
$300 cash payment; employees who accumulate 96 points (average of
two times a week) receive a $200 cash payment. To support the
program, the county offers a guaranteed ride home program,
preferential parking, and bike/walk facilities. In the first 5
months, the County's vehicle trips decreased by 13 percent, with
only 69 percent of employees driving alone.
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2. WHY IMPLEMENT A TDM PROGRAM?
FOUR REASONS TO IMPLEMENT TDM
A TDM program can support numerous employer and area-wide goals. The
primary goals of most area-wide TDM programs are to relieve
congestion, improve! air quality, and/or reduce energy consumption.
While these also can be goals of employer-based programs, your reasons
for implementing a TDM program likely are more specific, probably one
or more of the following:
- Respond to a trip reduction regulation;
- Solve a transportation-related problem at your worksite;
- Expand your employee (or tenant) benefits package; and/or
- Reduce company expenses.
RESPOND To REGULATION
Many of the employers (and developers) now implementing TDM programs
are doing so to comply with a state or local regulation requiring them
to reduce trips to their worksites. Such requirements are currently
in place in parts of California, Arizona, and Washington, and soon
will be in effect in parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut,
Maryland, New York, Texas, Illinois, and other states.
The specific requirements and names for the programs -- Employer Trip
Reduction, Employee Commute Options, Commute Trip Reduction, etc. --
vary by location, but the program concepts are the same. Employers,
generally above a certain size, develop and implement TDM strategies
to reduce the number (or percent) of employees who drive alone to the
work location. Some regulations also apply to developers and building
managers of commercial and residential real estate projects. In these
cases, incentives are provided to encourage tenants' use of
alternative modes.
If your company is subject to a state or local regulation, be sure you
clearly understand the details of the requirements. Some regulations
specify strategies you must include in your TDM plan, a target trip
reduction (or other measure of success) you must achieve, and other
conditions you must meet. This guidance manual does not discuss
requirements of any individual regulation, but will assist you in
developing an effective TDM program.
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SOLVE A SITE-SPECIFIC TRANSPORTATION PROBLEM
Although compliance with regulation is the most frequently cited
reason for developing a TDM program, it is by no means the only
reason. Many employers nationwide have used TDM as a way to solve a
transportation-related problem at their site.
For example, perhaps your workforce is rapidly growing and you have a
shortage of parking spaces. You could lease additional parking spaces
off- or perhaps on-site. Alternatively, you could offer carpool and
transit incentives to reduce the demand for parking. Or, maybe you
are relocating to a site far from the dominant residential areas of
your employees. You could initiate a vanpool or buspool service to
ease employees' commute to the new site. As another example, perhaps
employee tardiness has increased because your worksite is located in a
highly congested area, with unpredictable travel times. You might
institute work hours changes that allow employees to arrive earlier or
later than the peak travel periods. Chapters 4 and 5 of this manual
offer guidance in choosing strategies to solve individual problems
such as these.
EXPAND EMPLOYEE BENEFITS PACKAGE
Some employers, such as San Diego Trust & Savings Bank mentioned
above, are turning to TDM programs as an enhancement to the employee
benefits package. Benefits packages, which in the past often included
only holidays, vacations, and insurance coverage, increasingly are
being expanded to include tuition assistance, child care and elder
care programs, health club memberships, and other components.
Commuter incentives generally can be easily added to the package.
Transportation allowances, which are given to all employees to pay for
whatever commuting mode the employee chooses, are especially
appropriate for a benefits package, because they apply equally to all
employees. Companies that subsidize employee parking might consider
offering incentives to employees who use alternative modes as a way of
equalizing the benefits offered to employees who drive alone and those
who do not.
REDUCE EMPLOYER COSTS
Finally, some employers are implementing TDM strategies because it
saves them money. Highly successful programs, such as those
implemented at US West in Bellevue, WA, can reduce so many trips that
the company might be able to reduce the number of parking spaces it
leases or use parking lots it owns for other purposes. For example, a
company that is expanding its facilities might be able to build an
additional structure on a now unused parking lot. Alternatively, the
company could lease excess parking to a neighboring company. The
company also might find its TDM program reduces costs by reducing
employee tardiness and raising employee productivity,
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because employees arrive at work refreshed, rather than stressed from
difficult commutes.
HOW MUCH TDM DO YOU NEED?
Regardless of the reason or reasons you are implementing your TDM
program, this manual will help you determine which TDM strategies make
sense for you. But it will serve an equally important function,
especially if you are required by regulation to achieve a particular
target, of showing you how aggressive your TDM program must be. In
short, it will identify the level of effort appropriate to the
seriousness of the problem you are facing.
If you need or want to reduce only a very few trips, you might need
only to provide information to employees on transit routes and
schedules, and offer ridematching assistance. If you must meet an
ambitious trip reduction target, however, or have a serious parking
shortage, your program likely will need to be more aggressive, perhaps
offering employees significant, direct financial incentives, or
imposing a financial disincentive such as a parking fee.
At some locations, your ability to reduce vehicle trips could be
constrained by the lack of commuting alternatives available to your
employees. For these situations, significant trip reduction might
require that you provide additional commute alternatives, such as
vanpools, shuttles to park and ride lots, or even express buses from
residential areas to your site. Chapter 5 of this manual provides
worksheets to help you determine your needed level of program effort,
and identify TDM strategies that will allow you to reach your target.
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3. TDM STRATEGY OVERVIEW
INTRODUCTION
As mentioned in Chapter 1, TDM encompasses both alternatives to
driving alone and the techniques, or strategies, that encourage their
use. TDM alternatives include carpooling and vanpooling, public and
private transit, bicycling and walking, and other non-vehicle travel
options. TDM alternatives also can include 'alternative work hours,'
program options that reduce the number of days commuters need to
travel to the worksite, or that shift commuting travel to non-peak
times of the day.
TDM strategies include improvements in alternative modes of
transportation; financial and/or time incentives for commuters who use
commute alternatives; parking management programs, priority treatment
for ridesharers, information dissemination and marketing activities
that heighten travelers' awareness and/or interest in alternatives;
and supporting services that make the use of alternatives more
convenient or that remove psychological impediments to use of
alternatives.
As an employer, not all alternatives or incentives will be available
to you. Some options, such as development of priority lanes for
carpools and other high occupancy vehicles (HOVs), fall only within
the power of local governments. Although you cannot implement these
strategies, you may be able to influence their provision by local
governments. This manual focuses on those alternatives and strategies
employers can incorporate in a worksite TDM program. The following
sections describe elements typically implemented by employers.
COMMUTE ALTERNATIVES
ALTERNATIVE MODES
Carpooling and Vanpooling -
Carpooling is the backbone of most employer-based TDM programs.
In a carpooling arrangement, two or more employees ride together
to work in a personal or company-owned auto. Vanpooling, in which
seven to 15 employees commute in a van equipped as a commuting
vehicle, is somewhat less common, but can contribute significantly
to a trip-reduction program. Regardless of the number of
occupants, the common element in ridesharing is that each ride
shared represents another vehicle trip removed from the highway.
Carpooling is an especially important alternative because its
door-to-door directness and convenience provide a level of service
most nearly like that of the single-occupant vehicle. Its
principal disadvantage, magnified for vanpools, is that it
requires riders to commit to a common schedule. This can cause
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difficulties for commuters whose work hours are not consistent
from one day to the next. Often these problems can be mitigated
through schedule planning, part-time ridesharing, and the
provision of back-up services, such as a guaranteed ride home when
overtime is required.
Carpooling and vanpooling can be implemented at nearly all
worksites, although certain site and employee characteristics
favor ridesharing success:
- Consistent work hours
- Residential concentrations of employees
- High percentage of employees with commutes longer than 10
miles or 20 minutes (20 miles or 40 minutes for vanpooling)
- High percentage of employees with low to moderate salaries
- Availability of nearby HOV lanes
- Constrained parking supply
Public or Private Transit -
Transit is an important component of a TDM program in certain
settings as well. Clearly, transit service must be available, but
site and employee characteristics such as low to moderate employee
salaries, longer commutes, and constrained parking also contribute
to the use of transit service. Transit use is further encouraged
when:
- HOV lanes are available and open to transit vehicles
- Employee work hours are consistent with transit schedules
- High percentage of employees do not have access to an
automobile
- Frequent transit service is available within 1/2 mile of
employees' home and within a few blocks of the worksite
Commuter Bicycling and Walking Programs -
Bicycling and walking often are overlooked as viable commute
alternatives in the United States. While it is true they apply
only to a limited group of commuters, it also is true that
relatively little has been done in the United States to encourage
use of bicycling and walking for commuting. Bicycling and walking
are limited somewhat by geography, climate, commute distance, and
employee lifestyle. Clearly, these modes are geared to short-
distance commutes, although Americans' growing interest in health
could signal wider application of non-motor vehicle
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commuting. Site and employee characteristics that most favor
these modes include:
- Short-distance commutes (five miles or less for bicycling
and two miles or less for walking)
- Relatively flat terrain in the area of the worksite
- Mild temperatures and dry climate
- Safe commuting paths (low traffic volume roads, bikepaths,
sidewalks)
Twenty percent of the 500 employees at Xerox' Palo Alto, CA office
bicycle to work. Bicycle facilities on-site and a corporate
commitment to bicycling have made this possible. Secure bike
lockers are provided in a covered area in front of the company
security office, and bicyclers have free use of personal lockers
and showers. Xerox also includes bike displays from bicycle
manufacturers and local shops at its periodic bike fairs.
Employees also have flex-time. The city of Palo Alto further
encourages bicycling by providing a 40 mile network of bike lanes
and paths throughout the area and distributing maps of city and
county bike routes. The city estimates that 14 percent of area
commuters ride a bicycle to work.
ALTERNATIVE WORK HOURS
Alternative work hours (or work hours management) options are a second
broad category of commute alternatives. Because some work hours
options affect only the timing of commute trips, rather than the
number of trips made, they are not appropriate for all TDM programs,
but can be an important TDM component when the goal is congestion
relief, especially in a relatively small geographic area.
Employees and employers often find alternative work hours attractive
not only because they open up new transportation options, but because
they allow a better fit between work and family responsibilities.
Under alternative work hours, employees might find it easier to manage
household chores and personal business while working full-time.
Absenteeism, tardiness, and turnover may be reduced in settings where
workers need and want more flexibility.
Alternative work hours fall into four general categories:
- Staggered work hours
- Compressed work weeks
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- Flexible work hours (Flextime)
- Telecommuting
Staggered Work Hours -
In a staggered work hours program, employees' start work times are
scheduled at intervals set by the employer, so that different
groups of employees (often departments) begin work at different
times. For example, employee start times might be set at 15
minute increments, with the Accounting department reporting at
8:00 am, the Production department starting at 8:15 am, and
Shipping reporting at 8:30 am. The primary influence of this
strategy is to spread peak traffic. Because it does not result in
actual trip reduction, it has no application for air pollution-
based trip reduction programs.
This alternative work hour option is most appropriate for offices
and piece manufacturing facilities, where employees'
responsibilities are not interdependent. A staggered work hours
program can make it more difficult to form carpools and vanpools,
however, because employee work hours are no longer compatible
throughout the company.
Compressed Work Weeks -
Compressed work week programs allow employees to work a full work
week in fewer than the usual five days. To make up the hours not
worked on the "off" day, employees work more hours per day. Three
compressed schedules are most common:
- "4/10" schedule, in which employees work four 10-hour days.
- "3/36" schedule, in which employees work three 12-hour days.
- "9/80" schedule, in which employees work eight 9-hour days
(72 hours) plus one 8-hour day for a total of 80 hours over
two weeks.
These options have two impacts on commute travel: they reduce
number of days (and thus the number of miles) of commuting, and
shift employees' travel to a time outside normal daily peak
periods. Because of these two factors, compressed work hours
programs can be effective for programs designed to reduce traffic
congestion and reduce air pollution.
Compressed work weeks may be appropriate for office and
administrative functions, and for line and piece manufacturing
processes. If all employees have the same day off and the
office/plant is closed on the off day, this schedule also can
result in a cost saving for operating costs, but companies need to
assess the impact of compressed work week options on company
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operations. Service companies or those whose business is
conducted primarily by telephone might need to maintain a minimum
level of employee coverage.
Flexible Work Hours (Flex-time) -
In flextime, employees are permitted to set their own arrival and
departure times. Some flextime programs allow employees to arrive
and leave at any time, as long as they accumulate the required
number of hours (typically 40) over the course of a week, but most
programs establish "core hours," a band of time during which all
employees must be in the office or plant. For example, employees
must arrive no later than 10 am and leave no earlier than 3 pm.
For an 8-hour day, employees would be allowed to begin as early as
7 am (7 am to 3 pm) or end as late as 6 pm (10 am to 6 pm).
Flextime can influence travel behavior in several ways. In
congested areas, it may encourage employees to avoid most
congested times, thereby shifting traffic to less busy times.
Flex time also can encourage transit use, by allowing employees to
shift their arrival times to accommodate transit schedules.
Flextime's impact on ridesharing is less clear. Where work hour
differences within a company are a barrier to ridesharing, it can
encourage rideshare candidates to coordinate arrivals and
departures where they previously could not. But flextime itself
may be a barrier to ridesharing, because fewer employees will have
similar schedules.
Flextime is most applicable to offices and among administrative
and information workers who work independently. It is less
appropriate for shift workers and assembly lines, or where there
is need for continuous communication between workers schedules.
Telecommuting -
Telecommuting is more accurately an alternative "location"
strategy than alternative work hours strategy, because it allows
employees to work at home or at an alternative work location
closer to their homes (satellite work center or neighborhood work
center). Employees may be linked to the workplace by computer and
modem, or simply may do work that requires nothing more high-tech
than a telephone. Employees can telecommute full-time or just a
few days per week.
Telecommuting's impact on travel is not well-documented.
Telecommuting can reduce the number of work trips for those
working at home, and/or their length for those working at
satellite or neighborhood centers. Telecommuters may make fewer
trips or shorter trips, depending on whether they telecommute from
home or from a satellite work center. Telecommuting also may
influence mode choice. Telecommuters may switch from solo driving
to walking, cycling, or transit to access neighborhood or
satellite centers close to home. Or, they could switch from
alternative modes to solo driving for the days they do not
telecommute, if part-time carpool or vanpool use is not an option.
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Although managers often are wary of telecommuting, fearing
employees' productivity will suffer, this alternative may actually
improve morale and productivity. In a pilot project at&T and
state agencies in Phoenix, AZ, 80 percent of supervisors of
telecommuters said telecommuting increased employee productivity,
and 76 percent said telecommuting improved employee morale.
Ninety-eight percent thought the pilot program should be expanded.
TDM STRATEGIES
Employers have many options for encouraging employees' use of commute
alternatives. These TDM strategies fall into four primary categories:
- Improvements to alternative modes such as transit and
vanpooling.
- Financial incentives given to employees who use commute
alternatives.
- Parking management programs.
- Commute alternatives information and marketing
IMPROVEMENTS To ALTERNATIVE MODES
Incentives for the use of commute alternatives will be effective only
if the commute alternatives they promote are available. Employers may
be able to implement improvements to at least two commute
alternatives: transit service and vanpools.
Transit Service Improvements -
Central to employees' choice of transit for commuting is the
availability and attractiveness of transit at both their home and
worksite locations. Transit service is most commonly provided by
public transit agencies, and for reasons of economics, is
generally provided on a relatively rigid structure of routes and
stops. As population and employment become more decentralized,
public transit is less able to accommodate travel patterns cost
effectively, resulting in less direct, less frequent, and
generally less attractive service.
As an employer, you can work with public transit agencies to
change transit routes and schedules of transit service at your
worksite. Alternatively, you can contract with a public or
private bus company to provide new transit services targeted
specifically to the needs of your employees, absorbing or sharing
in the cost of providing the additional service. Swedish Hospital
Medical Center, a large hospital in Seattle, WA, contracted with
the local public transit operator to operate the "First Hill
Express," an express bus service from several suburban residential
areas. Several other nearby hospitals also participate in this
service, which is funded primarily by transit passes purchased by
the
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hospitals and given or sold to employees. Transit service
improvements might
include:
- Express buses (buspools) from concentrated residential
locations or park and ride lots to your worksite
- Shuttle buses from nearby residential areas to the worksite
- Shuttle buses between multiple company sites or between your
worksite and nearby retail areas (generally mid-day trips)
These service types are not necessarily appropriate as conventional
transit services. They might use small vehicles, be restricted to use
by your employees, or employees from your company and a few
neighboring employers, or be implemented on a "subscription" basis,
with employees reserving pre-paid seats, much like on an airplane. In
practice, these service types generally are provided most cost-
effectively by a private transit operator, under contract to the
employer.
A word of caution is needed regarding these services, however. They
can be very expensive to operate; typically low cost-effectiveness is
the reason public transit operators do not provide these services
themselves. This does not mean you shouldn't consider new transit
service as an option for your program, but it is doubly important to
identify the market potential for the service, and weigh the costs and
trip reduction benefits of new transit service against those for other
TDM strategies.
Comprehensive Company Vanpool Program -
Vanpools represent an important commute option, but unlike
carpools, their formation and operation can require special
assistance. Employers can help employees to participate in
vanpools by centrally managing and/or subsidizing operation of
vanpools. Although most often implemented by a single employer at
a single worksite, groups of employers can form multi-company
programs or can participate in a vanpool program sponsored by a
transportation management association or other organization.
Company vanpool programs often include subsidies to employees, and
thus provide a positive economic incentive to encourage
vanpooling, but a primary benefit of a company vanpool program is
access for employees to an additional commuting alternative. This
can be especially important when the worksite is distant from the
residential location, or otherwise inaccessible. Long-distance
commuters also often highly value vanpooling as a convenient and
stress-free travel option.
Company vanpool programs differ by employer, but in general, will
include several of the following elements:
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- Employer owns or leases vans for travelers' use, or
subsidizes startup of employee-owned/leased vehicles.
- Employer insures, fuels, and maintains vehicles (or
contracts for services).
- Employer assists in vanpool ridematching and other
formation/ operation tasks.
- Employer offers subsidies to vanpools or riders (e.g.,
introductory, on-going, and "longevity" payments; free
parking for vanpools).
The employer also might maintain one or more back-up vehicles for
emergency use, temporarily underwrite a portion of the vanpool cost
during a transition in ridership ("empty seat subsidy"), and support
the vanpool in other ways as part of the company's overall TDM
program.
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in Pasadena, CA, provides a $15 per month
subsidy to vanpools and $250 start-up seed funding. The company
supports the program by fueling and washing the vehicles, providing
preferential vanpool parking , and a guaranteed ride home program.
Since the program's inception in 1989, over 30 vanpools have been
formed and vanpooling's share has risen from 1 percent to 6 percent.
JPL vanpoolers also benefit from various state and county vanpool
subsidy and tax credits. The net vanpooling expenditure per employee
per month is about $20; average fares are $60-$80.
FINANCIAL INCENTIVES
Two key factors in a traveler's choice of travel mode are its cost (in
both dollars and time) and convenience relative to that of other
modes. Although most commute alternatives offer a natural cost
advantage through the sharing or elimination of expenses, many
commuters weigh this saving against the often longer travel time and
reduced convenience of using a commute alternative, and choose to
drive alone. Financial incentives offered to employees who use
alternatives to driving alone compensate for these modes'
disadvantages and provide a strong economic incentive to shift from
single operated vehicles (SOVs).
Financial incentives can take many forms. They can be offered on a
regular, on-going basis, such as a monthly subsidy; or as an
introductory incentive to encourage first time use of a commute
alternative. They can be direct cash payments; reductions in fees,
such as those for parking, employees otherwise would have to pay; or
incentives with indirect economic value, such as paid time off from
work or a chance in a prize drawing. Three common financial
incentives included in employer programs are:
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- Rideshare subsidies
- Transportation allowances
- Indirect financial incentives
Rideshare Subsidies -
Rideshare subsidies are regular, periodic payments made to
employees who use carpools, vanpools, transit, bicycling, or other
alternatives to driving alone. They can be offered for all
alternative modes or only certain targeted modes. Subsidies are
most often provided as cash payments, of a pre-set amount or as a
reimbursement for actual travel costs, but also can take the form
of pre-paid fare media such as transit passes, or as "coupons" or
scrip redeemable for cash. Subsidies provide a positive economic
incentive to shift from driving alone to alternative mode(s). In
addition, the regularity of the payment continuously reinforces
the motivation.
Union Bank, located in downtown San Diego, offers its 315
employees a 100 percent transit subsidy. Employees have free
parking, but off-site, in a company-leased garage located several
blocks away. Monthly garage pass holders are given passes to the
downtown trolley service, which connects the garage to the office.
Union Bank has a transit share of 36 percent, substantially higher
than the 19 percent average for all employers in the CBD. This
transit share equates to a 15 percent trip reduction compared to
all downtown employers.
Transportation (or Travel) Allowances -
Like subsidies, transportation allowances are regular, periodic
payments, provided either as a cash payment or a one-time income
adjustment. They differ from subsidies in that they are given to
all travelers, including those who drive alone, to be used to
defray the costs of travel. Allowances provide a positive
economic incentive to shift from SOVs to less costly modes or
modes in which costs are shared, because employees whose travel
cost is less than the allowance pocket the difference. There also
is an additional benefit of flexibility in mode choice, because no
mode is favored.
Allowances sometimes are implemented in conjunction with a parking
charge, and are set to be equal to a parking charge. Employees
can buy parking or apply the allowance to other travel costs. A
travel allowance can act like a rideshare subsidy if it is coupled
with a differential parking charge structure with a high rate for
SOVs and lower rates for alternative modes.
Indirect Financial Incentives - Employers who do not want to offer
employees a cash payment can provide a positive economic incentive
to shift to ridesharing by offering indirect financial incentives-
benefits with a measurable, monetary, but non-cash, value. Common
indirect incentives include:
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- Use of fleet vehicles for ridesharing (employer pays vehicle
insurance).
- Subsidized fuel or maintenance provided through on-site
facilities or vouchers accepted by local gas stations or repair
shops.
- Extra vacation time accumulated by ridesharers.
- "Catalog" points awarded for ridesharing and redeemable for
merchandise.
- Free or discounted equipment (e.g., walking shoes, bicycles,
bicycle helmets, repair equipment, emergency roadside kits).
Allergan in Irvine, CA, offers employees one to two extra paid
vacation days per year for ridesharing on a regular basis (two to
three days per week or more). While Allergan provides transit and
vanpool incentives as well, the firm's drive alone rate is lower than
the county-wide average (76 percent versus 86 percent) for an overall
trip reduction of almost 8 percent.
PARKING MANAGEMENT PROGRAM
Perhaps the single most influential TDM strategy is worksite parking
management. In most of the United States, abundant parking is
provided to employees at no charge. Under these conditions, it is no
wonder most employees drive alone. The goal of worksite parking
management is to remove this overwhelming bias toward solo driving.
Parking management includes three elements:
- Preferential parking for ridesharers,
- Parking pricing (fees), and
- Parking supply reductions.
Preferential Parking -
Preferential parking for ridesharers is a low-cost, easy-to-
implement incentive to encourage use of carpools and vanpools. In
preferential parking, employees who rideshare receive reserved
parking spaces; near the entrance to the building. The spaces set
aside for preferential parking will depend on the arrangement of
parking at the site. Ridesharing spaces can be reserved in a
covered structure, while solo drivers park in open lots. When on-
site parking is limited, ridesharers can be given priority on-
site, while solo drivers park off-site. In situations where
parking facilities (and thus walking distances) are large, where
parking facilities vary in convenience or attractiveness, or where
parking is limited, preferential parking can be an effective
incentive.
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Parking Pricing (Fees) -
The second parking management element is a fee charged by the
employer (or building management) for vehicle parking in a garage,
lot, or other parking facility at a worksite. Not surprisingly,
parking fees encourage use of alternative modes, because they
provide an economic disincentive to driving (especially alone).
An interesting aspect of this strategy is that is can generate
revenue that can be used to subsidize employees who use transit
and other alternative modes.
Parking fees can take many forms. Three of the most common are:
- Single fee paid daily by all vehicles entering the parking
facility
- Single fee paid for a monthly parking pass (fee paid whether or
not vehicle is parked every day of the month)
- Fee structure in which different fees are charged for different
modes or at different times of the day; generally, discounts
are offered to carpools and vanpools and/or to vehicles
entering outside the peak period
The most effective parking pricing strategies are those that offer
progressive discounts to vehicles as the number of occupants
increases. Two-person carpools receive a discount over solo drivers,
but three-person and four-person carpools and vanpools receive even
greater discounts. This strategy enhances the attractiveness of
commute alternatives.
Parking Supply Reduction -
The surest way to ensure trip reduction with parking management,
or any other TDM strategy, is to limit the amount of parking
available to employees. If not all employees have a space to park
their single occupant vehicle, some employees will look for other
commuting options. Although not all employers will have this as
an option, those who can reduce the amount of parking they own or
lease can not only reduce trips, but perhaps also save money from
reduced lease or facility maintenance costs, or from the economic
value of alternative uses of the parking.
INFORMATION AND MARKETING
Although the TDM strategies discussed above are the keystones to an
effective program, TDM information and support are important
complementary strategies. Commuters must be made aware of the
availability of commute alternatives and be encouraged to try them.
At a minimum, program marketing will include dissemination of
information on available commute services, and incentives in
assistance with finding ridesharing partners. Marketing often also
includes, however, personalized commute planning assistance, special
promotional activities such as prize drawings, and commute fairs or
"clubs" that can increase employees' interest in ridesharing, and
other services that make use of a commute alternative more convenient.
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Employer Ridematching Program -
Some employees find carpool and van pool partners with no
assistance from their employer, but many employees need some
assistance and encouragement. Employer-sponsored ridematching
assists employees by identifying employees who want to use commute
alternatives, and matching them in acceptable carpool, vanpool,
and transit arrangements. Employers can further encourage
ridesharing by introducing potential rideshare partners, easing
the reluctance many employees have to contacting a stranger.
Information Dissemination -
To disseminate information at a worksite, employers can utilize
bulletin boards, flyers distributed desk-to-desk, in-house
newsletters, new employee orientation, and periodic promotional
events such as rideshare fairs. At its most sophisticated level,
information assistance is provided by an on-site commute
information center, staffed with a Transportation Coordinator
trained to provide commute information and personalized commute
planning. The center also can serve as an outlet for distribution
of transit fare media or other commute products.
Transportation Coordinators -
Most employer TDM programs utilize the services of a
transportation professional who provides personalized assistance
to commuters These professionals, often called Transportation
Coordinators (or Employee Transportation Coordinators - ETCs)
offer individual trip planning assistance, as well as performing
more general marketing and information functions. The ETC is
generally the focus of the company's commute program, and manages
the program's development, implementation, marketing,
administration, and evaluation. Most trip reduction ordinances
and regulations require employers to select and train a ETC.
Special Promotions -
TDM marketing also can include special promotions, such as
periodic prize drawings, contests, awards for ridesharing,
commuter Dr bicycle clubs, and other activities to attract the
attention of commuters, generate excitement about the use of
commute alternatives, and reward ridesharers. These promotions
often are sponsored in conjunction with area-wide commuter
promotions such as an annual ridesharing week or Earth Day.
Special promotions are widely used, in part for their low cost and
high "splash" value.
Guaranteed Ride Home Programs -
A Guaranteed Ride Home (GRH) (or guaranteed return trip) program
is "commuter insurance." It is a service that reduces employees'
concern of being stranded without transportation in an emergency.
In recent years, many commuter surveys have shown that an
important factor in commuters' reluctance to rideshare is the fear
they will not be able to respond to a personal emergency, such as
in picking up a sick child at school, or be stranded without
transportation if they work late unexpectedly. GRH programs offer
free or subsidized emergency transportation, generally by taxi cab
or rental car, to commuters who do not drive to work alone.
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4. PROCESS FOR DEVELOPING and IMPLEMENTING
A TDM PROGRAM
PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT
The primary purpose of this manual is to guide you in selecting
appropriate strategies for your TDM program. As shown in Chapter 3,
however, the list of possible TDM strategies can be quite long. To
help identify the appropriate strategies for your situation, you first
must complete several "prerequisite" tasks that will enable you to
select strategies wisely, and take two follow-up steps that will make
implementation more successful. Development of a TDM program includes
five steps:
1. Determine program goals and define baseline
2. Conduct site analysis
3. Identify and select TDM strategies
4. Build management support
5. Prepare plan
DETERMINE PROGRAM GOALS AND DEFINE BASELINE
The first step in developing a TDM program is to define why you want
to implement a TDM program and what you want or need to accomplish.
Although TDM strategies have a common goal of reducing drive-alone
travel during peak commuting times, they differ in their trip
reduction impact, and in how easily and cost-effectively they can be
implemented.
Your reasons for implementing a TDM program may influence your choice
of strategies. If you are implementing the program as an employee
benefit, you might choose to offer a transportation allowance, which
gives employees flexibility in their mode choice, or offer a
combination of strategies, with "something for everyone." If you need
to resolve a serious parking shortage, you might want to target
employee parking through a parking charge, or choose to promote
transit and vanpooling, which have the greatest ability to remove
trips. If you are developing a TDM program to comply with a trip
reduction regulation, specific strategies or actions might be required
by the regulation.
Next, you need to define your trip reduction target. There are two
common ways employer-program TDM targets are established:
- A required Average Vehicle Ridership (AVR) (or other measure)
target Is set externally, by a trip reduction regulation, or
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- A desired trip reduction is defined internally, to achieve some
voluntary, " acceptable" level of site congestion or parking
utilization.
List your reasons for considering TDM- Are you responding to a
transportation or air quality regulation? If so, by what standard
will you be measured and what target does the regulation set? If you
are implementing the program for other reasons, how will you define
success for the program? For example, if parking at the site is
inadequate, what is an acceptable ratio of employees to parking
spaces? The methodology in Chapter 5 suggest that the TDM program
goal be defined as one or more of the following measures:
- A change in average vehicle occupancy;
- A reduction in daily vehicle trips; and
- A reduction in peak hour/period vehicle trips
Regardless of which measure you use, you will need to assess your
current position, or "baseline," for the measure. The difference
between this baseline and your goal defines the seriousness of your
problem, which in turn determines how aggressive your program must be.
To define your baseline, you probably will need to conduct an employee
survey, perform traffic counts, or examine existing company records. A
companion document to this manual, TDM Market Research and Evaluation,
describes techniques to assist you in measuring your baseline.
CONDUCT SITE ANALYSIS
Successful TDM programs are site-specific; that is, strategies must be
chosen to fit unique circumstances of the setting and target
population. Therefore, after you have defined your baseline and your
TDM goal, examine the characteristics of your employee population,
your worksite, and your own company's operations to identify features
or characteristics that might discourage or encourage the use of
commute alternatives. Identify barriers to alternative mode use and
determine how they can be changed or their impact minimized. Think
also how to capitalize on site and employee characteristics favorable
to commute alternatives.
First, examine characteristics of employees to determine which TDM
strategies will fit your employees' travel needs and be acceptable to
them. These characteristics include:
- Demographics: age, sex, job type, income, ethnic groups, etc.
- Travel patterns: From where, to where, how, and why employees
now travel.
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- Motivations: why employees use their current travel mode.
- Knowledge: employees' awareness of commute alternatives.
- Perceptions and attitudes: employees' feelings about commute
alternatives.
- Interest: employees' interest in various alternatives and
incentives.
Next, identify TDM barriers and opportunities presented by your
worksite. This review should include an examination of:
- Availability and level of transportation facilities and
services (e.g., HOV lanes, bikeways, and transit routes) in the
area surrounding your site
- Geographic, land use, or design characteristics of the site
(e.g., development density and availability of on-site or
nearby services (e.g., restaurants)
- Traffic conditions in the nearby area (e.g., congested
intersections).
Finally, explore characteristics of your company to determine if the
TDM strategies you are considering are compatible with your company's
operation and culture. This could include:
- Company "demographics" (e.g., size, business type).
- Company operations constraints (e.g., work hours, need for
phone coverage).
- Management's awareness of and interest in transportation
issues.
- Existing TDM program elements.
The Market Research and Evaluation Manual mentioned earlier offers
additional guidance in identifying these characteristics. Examples of
the application of various TDM strategies also are available in
another companion document, Implementing Effective TDM Program (Main
Report).
IDENTIFY AND SELECT TDM STRATEGIES
After you have analyzed your site and defined your baseline and goal,
you can begin to identify and select the strategies for your TDM
program. The strategies you choose must be compatible with site
characteristics and with commute alternatives available
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at the site, acceptable to employees, and compatible with the
company's operations. Further, they must be able to produce the trip
reduction impact needed or desired, in with the resources allocated
for the TDM program.
Many other documents are available to assist you in exploring the
range of TDM strategies which may be appropriate to your structure,
including both the Market Research and Evaluation Manual and the Main
Report, mentioned above. The primary purpose of this manual is to
help you explore the actual effectiveness that these various measures
can have in your situation, toward meeting your established goals.
Chapter 5 of this guide presents a procedure and a series of
worksheets you can use to sketch out typical TDM programs and evaluate
their effectiveness.
BUILD MANAGEMENT SUPPORT
The success of your TDM program is heavily dependent on how supportive
management is of the program. Management support obviously must come
in the form of resources dedicated to the development and maintenance
of the TDM program, but it refers more broadly to the overall
"corporate commitment." Is upper management willing to provide
significant, tangible incentives, and establish a corporate "culture"
that supports (rather than penalizes) employees' use of commute
alternatives?
A strong commitment typically is demonstrated by an extensive package
of incentives offered to commuters, but supportive work environment
policies, such as not holding meetings late in the afternoon, not
penalizing ridesharing employees who choose not to work overtime, and
rewarding employees for their contribution to the TDM effort, also are
indications of corporate commitment. A corporate culture that
supports ridesharing will reinforce the idea that ridesharing is a
"good citizen" activity.
Building management support might require that you educate upper
management on the benefits of developing and implementing the program
(and perhaps penalties of not implementing it if the program is
required by a regulation). It certainly will require that you clearly
communicate employees' needs and desires, and regularly document and
report the results of the program to key decision makers.
PREPARE PLAN
The final step in the TDM program development phase is to prepare a
workplan for program implementation. It should, at a minimum, include
the following elements:
- Program goals.
- Assessment of barriers and opportunities to commute
alternatives.
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- TDM strategies/incentives included in the program.
- How, when, and by whom TDM strategies and incentives will be
implemented.
- Program budget and resource needs.
- Process for monitoring and evaluating program progress.
If you are required by a trip reduction regulation to submit a TDM
plan, it is likely you will need to use a pre designed format that
might or might not include all of these items. You should prepare all
these elements, however, even if not all are required by the
regulation, because the program plan will serve as your guide to
implementation and a document to which you can refer frequently as the
program is in place.
PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION
Development of the TDM plan signals the beginning of the second TDM
program phase - program implementation. The most complete TDM plan is
useless unless it is put into practice. You must establish the
internal structure, staff, and support services to enable smooth and
efficient implementation of the TDM program, then promote the program
to employees.
Any TDM strategy will offer its greatest impact if it is supported by
a comprehensive TDM package. Obviously, commute alternatives and
incentives to encourage their use must be available. But, strong
promotion and corporate backing also must be present. Even financial
incentives, shown to be quite important in reducing trips, can be
effective only if employees are aware of the incentives and feel
management supports their use. It is particularly important to
reinforce employees' awareness of the program over time; otherwise,
new employees and those whose travel patterns change might not
participate. Chapter 3 described several important TDM information
and promotion elements.
As with the selection of commute alternative incentives, how you
market your TDM program will depend on the unique characteristics of
your site: size, characteristics of your employees, the commute
alternatives you are promoting, and other factors. This phase of the
program is largely the domain of traditional marketing, and as such is
not addressed here. Specific marketing strategies are well-documented
in other guides, however, and several of them are noted in Appendix B,
References and Resources.
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PROGRAM EVALUATION AND REFINEMENT
The program development and implementation process outlined above will
help you develop a successful TDM program. But you will want to
periodically review your progress, measure it against your goals, and
refine elements of the program that are not producing the intended
result, or that are not compatible with changing circumstances of your
employees or your company. In this stage of the TDM program, you are
answering the questions, "did the TDM program work?" and "why or why
not?" The primary reason to evaluate the program is to assess its
effectiveness:
- Did the program reduce commuting trips?
- Which specific elements of the program influenced the change?
and
- What program modifications would increase its future success?
The previously mentioned companion document, TDM Market Research and
Evaluation Manual, outlines an evaluation process and describes the
information you will need for the! evaluation. Briefly, you should
examine employees' travel patterns at a point when -the program has
been available for some time, and compare them against the baseline
you developed prior to implementing the program. You also will want
to ask employees, probably through a survey, about their awareness and
opinions about commute alternatives, and the reasons they use their
current travel mode.
Your evaluation also should examine any impacts on internal company
operations, and review any changes in the external environment that
could have contributed to changes in employees' travel patterns.
Finally, estimate program costs and savings. Your evaluation also
should examine the cost-effectiveness of the program, and individual
program strategies and incentives. For this, you will need
information on the total cost of the program, the cost of individual
incentives or promotional activities, and any savings that resulted
from the program.
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5. SELECTING TDM STRATEGIES AND CALCULATING
TRIP REDUCTION IMPACT
PURPOSE
This section of the manual introduces a procedure to help you develop
and explore specific TDM program options. The procedure consists of a
set of easy-to-use worksheets and look-up tables that estimate the
impact various TDM programs could have on current [or future] traffic
conditions at your site. The estimates in the tables were developed
from a combination of empirical and analytic sources, including a
predictive computer model, the TDM Evaluation Model, which was
developed by COMSIS for the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) as a
special guidance tool.
The procedure uses a series of worksheets to help you identify and
assess the effectiveness of various packages of alternative commute
program options for your individual situation. The worksheets allow
you to record your calculations and the results of each option for
further scrutiny. By comparing the results of various combinations of
options, you can examine the different ways by which your goal may be
achieved, as well as to see what actions will be necessary to achieve
your TDM goal. You likely will want to test a number of alternative
TDM programs with similar impact potential, and then develop
additional information on those programs to understand their full
implications before moving forward with implementation.
As described in Chapter 4, you likely will measure your progress by
one or more of the following measures:
- Attainment of a particular level of average vehicle occupancy.
- Reduction of daily vehicle trips to site, or restriction of
vehicle trips to a particular level.
- Reduction of peak (hour or period) vehicle trips by some
percentage or by some standard.
In some instances, you might be required to eliminate a certain number
of vehicle trips from your site entirely. In this situation, it will
be necessary for employees to change travel modes or to adopt new work
patterns that eliminate the need to travel to the site on a given day.
In other situations, it may be enough that you simply shift the trip
to another, less-congested, time of day. Strategies like flexible
work hours or extended work days (such as occur with compressed work
weeks) have their primary impact in the time-shifting of trips. The
procedure presented in this manual can be used to allow for
investigation of both types of strategies, and estimate the impacts on
total vehicle trips or peak-only vehicle trips.
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OVERVIEW OF PROCEDURE
The procedure includes the following steps, as illustrated in Figure
1.
STEP 1: DEFINE EMPLOYMENT TYPE
You will first need to classify your site according to type and
situation. Some of the impact estimates - particularly the modal
choice strategies of the look-up tables - take into account whether
your company's activity is primarily Office or Non-Office employment.
Company size and location, per se, are not important factors in this
methodology, although these are reflected to an important extent in
the starting modal split.
STEP 2: IDENTIFY BASELINE TRAFFIC CONDITION
Traffic conditions at a site can be represented by the relationship
between the number of employees traveling to your site and the
corresponding number of vehicles. A simple index for this
relationship is Average Vehicle Ridership (AVR), defined as the ratio
of total employees reaching the site to the number of private vehicles
they use to make the trips (see explanation of AVR below).
AVR vs. AVO
There are two indices that are commonly used to reflect the travel
efficiency of a particular modal split: Average Vehicle Occupancy,
or "AVO," and Average Vehicle Riderships, or "AVR,"
AVG' is the more traditional measure used by planners and traffic
engineers, and is calculated as:
Total persons in private vehicles
AVO =
Total private vehicle trips
This measure gives a feel for efficiency in terms of private
vehicle travel, but is deficient in that it misses travel by
transit or non-motorized modes (bike, walk). Hence, a given site
could have substantial trip reduction through transit, walk and
bike use but show a relatively poor AVO.
Average Vehicle Ridership overcomes this by placing a# travel
groups in the equation:
Total persons traveling
AVO =
Total private vehicle trips
This measures is the same as required of employers producing Trip
Reduction Plans under Regulation XV in Southern California and
under the U. S. Clean Air Act (1990)
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FIGURE I
Steps in TDM Program Evaluation Methodology
Click HERE for graphic.
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STEP 3: DEFINE "MODAL BIAS"
Because AVR is a composite measure which accounts for all travel
modes, it is possible to achieve a given AVR, 1.3 for example, through
different combinations of alternative modes, e.g. ridesharing or
transit. Thus, you must also distinguish between AVR situations
where:
- Most non-SOV employees arrive by transit,
- Most non-SOV employees rideshare,
- Transit and rideshare use are more evenly split.
When use of one alternative mode predominates at a site, the site has
a "modal bias." For example, if most non-SOV employees use transit,
the site has a transit modal bias, or is "transit favorable." If most
non-SOV employees arrive by carpool, the site is "rideshare
favorable." If neither mode dominates, the site is "mode neutral."
Since this "modal bias" affects the impact that different TDM
strategies will have at the site, it is important to classify your
site for this characteristic as well.
STEP 4. DETERMINE PEAK VEHICLE TRIPS (OPTIONAL)
If you are responding to a trip reduction ordinance that requires you
particularly to limit -the number of trips during a specified peak
hour or period, you will:
- Need to determine the current patterns of persons and vehicles
traveling to your site relative to the conditions of the
ordinance.
- The flexibility of your business operation to allow
rearrangement of these arrival/departure schedules.
If you are not responding to a legal requirement, you may still have a
desire to spread out your employee travel schedules to accomplish some
or all of the travel relief in your program.
STEP 5: SET TDM GOAL
Next, set a goal or target for the program. As discussed in Chapter
4, you probably have either a well-defined target set by regulation,
or a more nominal target to satisfy an internal goal. Regardless of
how the target is defined, there are two ways to use this evaluation
procedure:
- Start with the target and identify combinations of strategies
that afford the needed or desired trip reduction, or
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- Start with alternative TDM strategy packages and ascertain what
improvement in traffic conditions those packages will provide.
You will likely use the first method if you are developing the program
in response to a legal or regulatory requirement and the second if you
are considering TDM for a voluntary or self-motivated program, but the
approaches can be used interchangeably.
STEP 6: DEVELOP TDM PROGRAM OPTIONS
Next, the procedure introduces different TDM program strategies for
you to package into program options. A system of worksheets and look-
up tables is provided to help in identifying strategy packages and
estimating their impacts. The strategies fall into three general
categories:
- Modal choice strategies, which encourage employees to shift
from driving alone to other commute alternatives;
- Alternative work arrangements, which reduce the number of days
employees travel to the worksite, and thus, the actual number
of trips made to the site; and
- Work hours shifting strategies, which shift trips from the most
congested times of the day to less-busy "off-peak" time
periods.
STEP 7: PERFORM IMPACT ASSESSMENT
In this step, you will estimate the effectiveness of strategy
packages. Effectiveness is indicated by increases in Average Vehicle
Ridership, (AVR) and/or reductions in vehicle trips and/or person
trips. You may combine strategies to achieve the desired trip
reduction and program balance.
STEP 8: EVALUATE OPTIONS
Finally, compare the estimated impact of each package on vehicle trip-
making, and on your TDM program goals. Special worksheets are
provided to help you keep track of the test. Through this "menu" of
options, you will be able to evaluate the effectiveness and
acceptability of the different packages in complying with the goal or
regulation.
APPLICATION OF PROCEDURE
This section provides step-by-step guidance in the purpose and use of
the worksheets and look-up tables that make up the evaluation
procedure.
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STEP 1: DEFINE YOUR EMPLOYMENT TYPE
The first step is to classify your company as either Office or Non-
Office. Office situations are interpreted as substantially
professional/white-collar jobs, with work schedules that fall within
the daily peak travel periods. Office also includes fire, services,
and government employment, covered by Standard Industrial
Classification (SIC) Codes 6000 and above. Non-Office is interpreted
as substantially blue collar or crafts/non-professional employment,
with work schedules that may or may not fall within the traditional
peak periods. This includes Construction, Manufacturing,
Transportation, and Wholesale and Retail Trade, corresponding to all
SIC codes below 6000.
STEP 2: DEFINE YOUR BASELINE TRAFFIC CONDITIONS (STARTING AVR)
Using Worksheet 1, calculate the Average Vehicle Ridership at your
site. AVR probably best reflects the vehicle usage of the population
of employees who physically travel to the site on an average day, and
you should use this definition unless required to use a different
measure. AVR is most easily defined as the number of employees
arriving at the worksite divided by the number of vehicles in which
they arrive, but there are variations of this definition. For
example:
- You could be required to account for all employees, including
those who do not travel to the site;
- You might be required (or choose) to measure the average
behavior over an entire work week;
- You might be interested in only those trips that occur during a
specified period of the day, or a "peak hour."
The evaluation procedure is easily applied to a more restricted
definition of AVR such as these; simply define the starting population
and AVR accordingly, and the remainder of the technique is still
applicable.
To calculate AVR you will need information on employees' travel mode
choices. The best source for this information is an employee survey
that asks employees how they traveled to the site on the specified
day/time period. Travel mode options should include:
- Driving alone (includes taxi or being dropped off)
- Motorcycle
- Carpool (by number of occupants)
- Vanpool
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WORKSHEET 1
Calculation of Average Vehicle Ridership (AVR)
Click HERE for graphic.
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- Buspool
- Public Transit
- Bicycle
- Walk
Although you might choose to conduct a more extensive survey for
marketing purposes, a simple post card sized questionnaire
administered to all employees is adequate for gathering AVR
information. The companion guidance manual on Market Research and
Evaluation offers assistance in design of these surveys.
It is likely some surveys will not be returned. For the most
conservative estimate of trip reduction potential, treat non-
responding employees as Drive Alone. Depending on the accuracy wanted
or needed (which might be a specific regulatory requirement), you
might validate the survey with physical vehicle occupancy counts. The
modal percentages in Worksheet 1 then can be adjusted to fit the
observed count. While less desirable, an intensive physical vehicle
occupancy count may be an acceptable direct substitute for an employee
survey.
Enter the number of employees using each mode, from the survey or
other resources, into the appropriate boxes on Worksheet 1. Then
perform the indicated calculations to obtain the number of vehicle
trips in the second column. Note that the worksheet requests
information on the number of carpooling employees by the size of
carpool (i.e., two, three or four+ occupants). If you do not have
this detail, divide the total number of carpoolers by two persons per
vehicle. Although you might have some carpools with more than two
occupants, this will give you the most conservative result. Sum all
person trips in column 1 and all vehicle trips in column 2, and obtain
the AVR by dividing column 1 by column 2.
STEP 3: DEFINE YOUR MODAL "BIAS"
As described earlier, you will need to define the modal "bias" at your
site, that is, whether the site is "transit favorable," "rideshare
favorable," or "mode neutral." Worksheet 2 is provided to help you
make this determination. Complete the following three steps:
1) Enter the total percent of employees using all alternative
modes in the first box (AM),
2) In the second and third boxes (TR and RS), enter the percent of
employees using transit (TR) and rideshare (RS) modes,
respectively,
3) Divide the percent using transit (TR) by the percent using
alternative modes (AM), and the percent using rideshare (RS) by
the percent using alternative modes (AM).
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WORKSHEET 2
Determination of Modal Bias
Click HERE for graphic.
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If transit comprises more than 50 percent of your percent alternate
mode, your site is "transit favorable.' If your percent alternative
mode is more than 50 percent ridesharing, your site is "rideshare
favorable." If neither transit nor ridesharing dominates, the site is
"mode neutral." The look-up tables (provided later in this chapter)
which furnish estimates of trip reduction impacts are divided into
these three categories.
Note that failing into any of these preliminary categories does not
mean you cannot implement opposite-mode strategies, but the impacts on
AVR and other measures will be different.
STEP 4: CALCULATE PEAK VEHICLE TRIPS (OPTIONAL)
In some situations, you may want or need to reduce trips from a
specific peak hour or peak period. Several existing TDM ordinances
require employers to, for example, reduce morning peak-hour vehicle
trips. Alternatively, if traffic at your site is particularly
congested during a certain time period, you might find it valuable
simply to shift some portion of that traffic to an earlier or later
time.
The procedure outlined in this chapter can be used to assess both the
overall impact of TDM strategies, and the impact specifically on peak-
hour trip-making. This analysis step is optional, and your situation
might not require this assessment. Although easy to incorporate, this
step is recommended only for situations where trip shifting is an
important issue. Worksheet 3, with the following five steps, is
provided for this calculation
1) First enter the total number of employees traveling to the site
(P) on an average day, from Worksheet 1.
2) Then enter the time period you consider (or are required to
consider) the peak hour or period.
3) Next, enter the number of employees arriving at the site during
the peak period (PK); determine this through the employee
survey or through a vehicle count.
4) Calculate the percentage of employees who arrive during the
peak period by dividing PK by P.
5) Calculate peak period vehicle trips (PVT) by multiplying the
number of vehicle trips (V) from Worksheet 1 by the PK percent.
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WORKSHEET 3
Calculation of Peak Vehicle Trips (Optional)
Click HERE for graphic.
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STEP 5. SET TDM GOAL
To identify the appropriate type and intensity of your TDM program,
you must first define your goal for the program. Your goal might be
expressed as a target AVR, AVO, or APO, a certain reduction in SOV
use, a certain increase in use of one or more alternate modes, a
reduction in peak-hour vehicle trips, etc. As discussed in Chapter 4,
your goal might be dictated by a regulation.
Most TDM goals can be reduced to a much simpler measure: percent
reduction in vehicle trips. The worksheets and look-up tables used
throughout this procedure relate TDM impacts in terms of "percent trip
reduction." Thus, to assess the effectiveness of a strategy, you will
need to estimate your initial number of trips and the percent trip
reduction you are seeking.
Use Worksheet 4 to establish the trip reduction goal. The worksheet
provides space to calculate your desired trip reduction from a
comparison of present and target AVR (or AVO or APO); daily vehicle
trips; or peak period vehicle trips. If your goal is to be based on
another measure, you might still be able to use the equations in
Worksheet 4 to arrive at a target trip reduction percentage.
If you are not required by a regulation to meet a specific goal, you
still will find it helpful to establish some nominal goal to guide
your analysis. Set an AVR or vehicle trip limit that you think you
would like to achieve, and determine the percent vehicle trip
reduction necessary to achieve, that level. Later on, as your
familiarity with TDM grows, you might re-evaluate/re-establish this
goal.
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WORKSHEET 4
Establish Trip Reduction Targets
Click HERE for graphic.
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STEP 6.- DEVELOP TDM PROGRAM OPTIONS
After setting your TDM goal, begin the process of identifying TDM
program packages that will help you meet the goal. As mentioned
earlier in this chapter, there is probably more than one package of
TDM strategies that will allow you to achieve your trip reduction
goal. These packages could combine strategies that shift employees f
rom SOV to alternative modes, strategies that reduce trips by shifting
employees into alternative work hours arrangements, or strategies that
shift employees' travel to less congested times of the day.
Worksheet 5, the TDM Impact Worksheet, directs you through the
calculation for the impacts of each of these three strategy types.
Further, if you use one of these worksheets for each "trial,' that is,
one for each unique program package you examine, it will help you keep
track of the TDM packages you test, and allow you to readily compare
the packages against each other later, during evaluation.
Define Starting Conditions - Label the trial number in the box on the
upper right, enter the target trip reduction in the box on the upper
left, and enter your starting AVR, Total Vehicle Trips, and (if used)
Peak Vehicle Trips in the Starting Conditions box.
The worksheet leads you through the examination of Modal Shift
Strategies, Alternate Work Arrangements, and Time Shift Actions. You
can look at one strategy group alone, or combine two or three strategy
groups in a single program trial. The worksheet will help you assess
the impact contributed by each program element separately.
Modal Shift Strategies - Modal shift strategies are those that cause a
change of mode, from driving alone to the alternative modes of
transit, carpooling, and vanpooling. These strategies include three
categories of actions:
- Rideshare (Carpool and Vanpool) Program Support: Information,
promotion, and other supporting strategies implemented at a
worksite to encourage employees' use of carpools or vanpools.
- Transit Program Support: Information, promotion, and other
supporting strategies implemented at a worksite to encourage
employees' use of public transit service.
- Economic Incentives: Incentives that financially reward
employees who use high-occupancy modes. These can be direct
subsidies -to users of high-occupancy modes, or surcharges
imposed on SOV users. These strategies are distinct from the
above two groups of supporting strategies.
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WORKSHEET 5
TDM Impact Worksheet
Click HERE for graphic.
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Appendix A presents a series of look-up tables, labeled Modal Shift
Reduction Factors, ,that provide estimates of the potential impacts of
TDM strategies on employees' mode choice. The table also show the
effect of various levels of these three sets of TDM strategies you can
implement at your site." Figure 2 shows one of these tables as an
example.
The tables in the appendix are organized into groups based on the
three classification criteria described earlier in this chapter:
- Employer Type: two groups - Office and Non-Office
- Starting AVR: three groups - < 1.21, 1.21 to 1.50, and > 1.50
- Modal Balance: three groups - Transit favorable, Rideshare
favorable, and Neutral
The look-up tables are organized in sets of four sub-tables (two on
each of two pages). Each group of four was developed for a unique
combination of these three criteria. For example, the sample in
Figure 2 applies to:
- Office Employers, with a
- Starting AVR of 1.21 to 1.50, and a
- Neutral Mode Balance
To use the tables, first find the group of four that corresponds to
your situation. Within the tables are numbers (or "trip reduction
factors") that represent the percentage vehicle trip reductions that
would occur if a program of the described characteristics was
implemented under the starting conditions you have identified.
Each table identifies the trip reduction that would occur with each of
four levels of employer support for TDM. The four sub-tables differ
by the level of financial incentive offered with the supporting
strategies. These different "levels" of support and incentives are
defined as follows:
Employer Transit Support Program: The employer offers various
services and supporting measures to enhance the attractiveness of
using transit:
Level 1: Provides an on-site transit information center and a
transportation coordinator who commits 1/4 time to supplying
information and encouraging transit use.
Level 2: Offers all features of Level 1 plus a policy of
leniency in work hours (tolerate periodic late arrivals/early
departures) to accommodate transit schedules.
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FIGURE 2
Modal Shift Reduction Factors
(Sample Table)
Employer Type: Office
Starting AVR: 1.00 - 1.20
Mode Balance: Rideshare
VEHICLE TRIP REDUCTION: Financial Incentive
Percent Differential = $0
CP & VP TRANSIT PROGRAM SUPPORT
PROGRAM Level Level Level Level Level
SUPPORT 0 1 2 3 4
Level 0 0.0 0.2 0.5 1.5 2.0
Level 1 0.6 0.6 1.1 2.1 2.6
Level 2 1.6 1.5 2.1 3.0 3.5
Level 3 7.2 7.1 7.6 8.5 9.0
Level 4 11.1 11.1 11.6 12.5 12.9
VEHICLE TRIP REDUCTION: Financial Incentive
Percent Differential = $1
CP & VP TRANSIT PROGRAM SUPPORT
PROGRAM Level Level Level Level Level
SUPPORT 0 1 2 3 4
Level 0 5.9 6.1 6.5 7.8 8.5
Level 1 6.7 7.0 7.4 8.6 9.3
Level 2 7.9 8.2 8.6 9.8 10.5
Level 3 15.1 15.3 15.6 1637 17.3
Level 4 1934 20.1 20.4 21.4 22.0
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Level 3: Offers all features and Levels 1 and 2 plus on-site
transit pass sales and an increase of the coordinator role to
1/2 time.
Level 4: Offers all features and Levels 1, 2 and 3 plus a
Guaranteed Ride Home program for transit users, and a full-time
coordinator.
Employer Rideshare Support Program: The employer offers various
incentives and services to enhance the attractiveness of using
ridesharing options (carpooling and/or vanpooling):
Level 1: Provides information on carpool/vanpool opportunities,
supports external matching programs, and dedicates a 1/4 - time
transportation coordinator.
Level 2: Offers all features of Level 1 plus adoption of in-
house sponsorship of matching services, and sponsorship of
rideshare candidate get-togethers.
Level 3: Offers all features of Levels 1 and 2 plus a policy of
leniency in departure/arrival times; provides preferential
parking for pools, and extends coordinator role to 1/2 time.
For vanpools, also includes vanpool development and operating
assistance (such as loan guarantees, insurance assistance, or
start-up subsidies), plus additional services like on-site van
washing and servicing.
Level 4: Offers all features of Levels 1, 2 and 3 plus
Guaranteed Ride Home and full-time coordinator. For vanpools,
includes major in-kind financial assistance such as favorable
leasebacks, free maintenance and insurance, and empty-seat
subsidies.
In a given table, therefore, you can compare the Percent Vehicle Trip
Reduction produced with a wide range of levels of employer support for
transit and ridesharing: programs that emphasize transit use,
rideshare use, or any combination of the two. Note -that the trip
reduction estimates in the table assume that the level of effort for
the program is compared to having "no program" currently in place.
This is seldom the case. To account for existing support of commute
alternatives, you must identify the trip reduction factor for the
combination that corresponds most closely to what is in place
currently, and subtract it from the factor for the level you wish to
test in order to get the net effect.
The concept is the same in each of the four tables in each set. What
distinguishes the four tables is the level of financial incentive
offered to employees. The first table reflects no($O)direct financial
incentive in the employer program. Subsequent tables reflect an
increasing level of financial motivation, from $1 to $4 per employee
per day.
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This financial incentive is expressed as a pricing differential; in
other words, some combination of strategies that either rewards HOV
users or penalizes SOV users to so that the net difference between the
two users is the stated dollar amount. For example, a $2 differential
could either be thought of as a $2 surcharge on SOV parking, a $2
daily subsidy to rideshare/transit users, or a combination $1 SOV
charge and $1 HOV subsidy.
The tables can be applied in two ways. You can identify groups of
strategies you might implement, and determine the trip reduction
associated with each program. This is using the table "from the
outside in." Or, you can define a trip reduction goal and identify TDM
packages with trip reduction factors equal to or greater than the
goal; using the table "from the inside out." Note that there are
probably several combinations which will yield the same impact,
offering tradeoffs between ridesharing, transit, and financial
initiatives. Regardless of which method you use, you can compare the
trip reduction impacts of various packages of strategies.
After identifying one or more options, go back to Worksheet 5 and
describe your program selection on the right side of the Modal Shift
Strategies box. Then calculate the revised performance, using the
trip reduction factor for the selected TDM program, with the formulae
and boxes provided.
Alternate Work Arrangements - The second category of TDM strategies in
the TDM Impact Worksheet 5 deals with two forms of Alternate Work
Schedules: compressed work weeks and telecommuting. These strategies
eliminate physical trips to a worksite by reducing the number of days
employees need to travel. In the process, of course, vehicle trips
are also eliminated.
The estimation of the effect of these strategies is done directly in
the worksheet, not through look-up tables as with the Modal Shift
strategies. Enter, in the boxes on the left-hand side of the
worksheet, the percentage of employees you expect to participate in
any or all of these different work arrangements. Then complete the
simple calculation to estimate the resulting reduction in vehicle
trips on an average day.
Compressed work weeks reduce the number of days an employee must
travel to the worksite, by effecting a longer work day. This has
implications also on when the trip occurs, relative to the peak, and
is discussed later. Generally, an employer will offer one, but not
all of these options, though the technique permits evaluation of any
combination.
The telecommuting option - working off-site one or more days per
week - has trip reduction impacts which are directly related to the
number of days per week that an employee telecommutes. Thus, it is
necessary to assume not only the percentage of
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employees who will telecommute, but the number of days they would be
likely to do so.
It should be noted that the results for these strategies are heavily
dependent upon your assumptions. If you assume a large percentage of
your employees will use an alternative work arrangement if it is
offered, your calculation will result in a large trip reduction.
However, you should scrutinize this estimate very carefully. In
Southern California, employers who offered such programs to employees
showed very modest usage rates by employees. The following employee
participation rates were observed:
Arrangement Employees
Offered Using
4/40 Week 6%
3/36 Week 4%
9/80 Week 2%
Telecommute 2%
Furthermore, it should be noted that, generally, only one of these
alternative schedules was offered by a given employer. Bear in mind,
therefore, that you should be realistic (and conservative) in
projecting the percent of your employees; who will participate in any
of these program options if it is offered
After entering your assumptions, complete the calculations and total
the two columns to determine the total percent of employees who would
be expected to take part in these new work arrangements, and the
resulting vehicle trip reduction (simply the sum of reductions from
all arrangements). Use the total trip reduction from Alternate Work
Arrangements (VTR) to compute the changes in AVR and vehicle trips on
the right side of the table.
Note that the Mode Shift and the Alternate Work Arrangements are
separate from each other in the table. In reality, there may be some
interaction, with either strategy having an effect on the appeal of
the other. However, these effects are not well documented and are
assumed here to be minimal.
Time Shift Actions: The third and final set of TDM strategies in the
worksheet does not reduce trips, but affect only the time of travel.
Their impact is simply to move vehicle trips out of the peak period.
They do not increase vehicle occupancy or physically eliminate travel,
hence their only impact on efficiency of travel is to lessen peak
hour/peak period trip loads. This can be, however, an important
supporting
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strategy, depending on your need and/or the wording of a legal
requirement. Worksheet 5 accommodates two types of actions:
Flexible or Staggered Work Hours: These policies shift employees'
arrival or departure times to less-congested times. For this
strategy, estimate how many employees would be shifted outside the
peak period if a flexible hour or staggered hour policy were
implemented. As with alternative work arrangements, it is
important to be realistic in what can be achieved with these
strategies.
Compressed Work Weeks: The compressed work week has two effects.
As discussed earlier, it reduces the number of daily trips to a
site, but it also shifts trips by time of day to the extent that
the work day itself is elongated. For example, the work day for a
3/36 week is 12 hours long. Thus, it is likely the commute trip
will fall outside both the morning and evening peak hours, and
produce an average daily trip reduction of 0.6 (trip shift effect
only). Similarly, the 4/40 week has a 10-hour day, and the
commute trip again misses both peaks an average of four days per
week, resulting in a vehicle shift trip reduction of 0.4. With the
9/80 week, the work day is nine-hours long, resulting in the
shaving of 1 peak per day an average of four and one half days per
week, or 0. 1.
To use this section of the worksheet, enter your estimates for
participation in these programs and compute the vehicle shift trip
reduction on the left side of the worksheet. Then move to the right
side to complete the assessment of the impact on travel to the site.
Note that the only impact credited from these particular strategies is
on Peak Vehicle Trips; AVR and daily vehicle trips are assumed to be
unchanged.
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STEP 7- ESTIMATE TRIP REDUCTION IMPACTS
After completing a trial and determining the impact of a particular
package of TDM strategies, you probably will want to develop and
evaluate several other program options, with different levels of
employer support actions, levels of financial incentives, and
different types and levels of alternate work arrangements. This could
easily move toward a large combination of alternatives.
To keels track of the trials and allow easy comparison among trials,
use the Summary Table provided in Worksheet 6. Its use is largely
self-explanatory. Enter the number of the trial, record (simply with
check marks in the boxes provided) what major strategies were
considered, and indicate the estimated impact on AVR and daily and
peak vehicle trips. Space is provided in each trial line to allow for
calculation of the percentage reduction relative to the starting
conditions.
This table is a good place to organize your thoughts about the
direction of strategies and programs, and to begin 
