Workplace Travel Plans - main body - Final Jan 2010 ENGLISH - FCM

Chapter 4 — Travel Plan Measures
4 TRAVEL PLAN MEASURES
4.1 OVERVIEW
This chapter describes workplace measures to improve the
options available to individual commuters, and to
establish incentives (or disincentives) that make those
travel options more attractive. SECTIONS 4.2 TO 4.6
discuss measures that revolve around desirable forms of
commuting—namely public transit, ridesharing, walking
and cycling, efficient driving and teleworking.
SECTIONS 4.7 TO 4.9 describe broader approaches to
encouraging the use of commuter options in general—
namely compressed work weeks, parking management
strategies, and the provision of alternatives to personal
automobiles for local business travel.
4.2 PUBLIC TRANSIT
Opportunities and challenges
Public transit’s potential role in your travel plan is largely
a function of the quality of service (i.e. availability,
frequency, reliability and speed) at your workplace. Aside
from any service quality concerns, key challenges to
greater transit use may include employee concerns about
personal security (especially in isolated locations or after
dark) and bad weather (walking and waiting in cold, rain,
snow and wind).
Another common obstacle to transit commuting is the
need for employees to bring their car to work so they can
make local business trips during the day. Giving workers
other options for local business travel (e.g. taxi chits,
transit tickets, fleet cars or bicycles) makes transit a more
viable way of getting to and from work.
Public transit service
Transit systems are generally willing to consider adjusting
their routes, bus stop locations, service hours or
frequencies to better capture potential ridership. It is
worth discussing opportunities with your local transit
provider, especially if the results of your commuter survey
offer evidence of the potential for greater ridership.
Transit pass programs
Many transit systems (but not all) sell transit passes
through employers. Typically, participating employees use
a convenient “permanent” transit pass while employers
deduct discounted fares from their paycheques and
transfer those funds to the transit system. In some cases,
employers purchase and resell discounted monthly passes
(sometimes with a subsidy, which is a taxable benefit).
Employees using TransLink’s Employer Pass Program love
the convenience. It’s automatically deducted from their
pay, and it costs them less than purchasing it themselves.
Michelle Sing, Director, Human Resources,
Volunteers and Children's Services, YWCA
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Workplace Travel Plans: Guidance for Canadian Employers