HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 07201993 - H.A C/: 00
Contra
TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS Costa
FROM: Harvey E. Bragdon County
Director of Community Development
DATE: July 20, 1993
SUBJECT: Accept Award from RIDES Recognizing Contra Costa County
as one of the 100 Best Employers for Bay Area Commuters
SPECIFIC REQUEST(S) OR RECOMMENDATION(S) & BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION
RECOMMENDATIONS
Accept award from RIDES for Bay Area Commuters, Inc. , recognizing
Contra Costa County as one of the 100 Best Employers for Bay Area
Commuters in 1993 .
FISCAL IMPACT
None.
BACKGROUND/REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS
RIDES for. Bay Area Commuters, Inc. , the regional ridesharing agency
for the nine-county Bay area, has selected 100 employers for
recognition for their use of new and creative ways to increase
their employee's use of commute alternatives, including transit,
carpooling, vanpooling, telecommuting, etc. Contra Costa County
was among the employers selected. During the past year, the County
has initiated a pilot telecommuting program, expanded its County
vehicle carpool program to include vanpools, revamped its preferred
carpool parking regulations, and established a network of onsite
coordinators to facilitate communications with employees. We hope
to expand these efforts in the coming year. The selection of the
County for this award would not have been possible without the
commitment of the Board of the Supervisors to increase commute
options for County employees and the support of top management
staff.
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APPROVE OTHER
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ACTION OF BOARD ON ci 3 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED OTHER
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VOTE !OF SUPERVISORS
I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A
UNANIMOUS (ABSENT TRUE AND CORRECT COPY OF AN
AYES: NOES: ACTION TAKEN AND ENTERED ON THE
ABSENT: ABSTAIN: MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF
SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN.
Orig '!Dept: Community Development ATTESTED d `
Contact: Ernest Vovakis, 646-2131 PHIL BATCHE� , CYERK OF
cc: THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR
BY DEPUTY
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Contents
Int:rocl+iction,
..The 1..00 Best
Highlights of the-100 Best Programs
... ..Conclusion
AL
00 Best
A good reason to celebrate.
If this year's '100 Best" employers are any indication of where
commute alternatives are headed in the Bay Area, we all have
good cause for celebration. It's a long road to excellence in the
transportation industry, but the 100 employers featured here
are already well down that exciting path. These employers have
pioneered new and creative ways to increase their employees'
use of transit, carpooling, vanpooling, biking, walking, and
other alternatives to driving alone.
A good reason to get down to business—and fun.
These public and private employers also recognize that the
business of promoting commute alternatives is good business.
It's the bottom line for all of us—with cleaner air, smoother-
flowing traffic, and less commute-induced stress. When
employees don't drive alone, everyone benefits: employers save
money on parking expenses and have better public relations and
recruitment tools; employees save money and time commuting;
and we all enjoy cleaner air, less noise and congestion, and
decreased dependence on fossil fuels.
100 good reasons to follow the leaders.
The "100 Best" come in all shapes and sizes: they're small,
mid-size, and large organizations, and they're both public and
private. Some have large budgets, others very little. What
they all have in common is a strong commitment to helping
their employees get to work without driving alone. These 100
programs were evaluated for their comprehensiveness, innova-
tion, and effectiveness. We hope that you'll find the enclosed
statistics, highlights, and other information useful in your
own transportation program. For more information about
these programs or for help with your program, call RIDES'
Employer Services at 1-800-755-POOL.
A
The 100 Best Employers • Commuters
LARGE EMPLOYERS
more than 1,000 employees
Outstanding Programs
Apple Computer, Inc. Santa Clara County sites
Applied Materials, Inc. Santa Clara
Bank of America Selected Bay Area sites
Caltrans Oakland
Chevron Selected Bay Area sites
Children's Hospital Oakland
City of Santa Clara Santa Clara
City of Santa Rosa Santa Rosa
County of Santa Cruz Santa Cruz County
County of Sonoma Sonoma County
FMC Corporation San JoselSanta Clara
General Electric San Jose
GTE Government Systems Mountain View
Hewlett-Packard Selected Bay Area sites
Intel Corporation Santa Clara
John Muir Medical Center Walnut Creek
Kaiser Permanente Selected Bay Area sites
Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory Berkeley
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Livermore
Lockheed Missiles & Space Company Santa Clara County sites
NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field
National Semiconductor Santa ClaralSunnyvale
Oracle Corporation Redwood Shores
Pacific Bell San Ramon
A
Pacific Gas & Electric Company Selected Bay Area sites
San Francisco General Hospital San Francisco
San Quentin Prison San Quentin
Silicon Graphics Mountain Viera
Stanford University Stanford
Sun Microsystems, Inc. Selected Bay Area sites
Tandem Computers Cupertino
United States Coast Guard Alameda
University of California Berkeley/San Francisco
Varian Palo Alto
Watkins-Johnson Company Palo Alto
Strong Programs
AT&T Pleasanton
City of San Jose San Jose
County of Contra Costa Contra Costa County.
County of Marin Marin County
Fireman's Fund Insurance Company San RafaellNovato
Franklin Resources San Mateo
Genentech, Inc. South San Francisco
IBM Corporation San Jose
New United Motor Fremont
Rolm—A Siemens Company Santa Clara
San Jose State University San Jose
Sandia National Labs Livermore
SRI International Menlo Park
Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. Selected Bay Area sites
A
MID-SIZE EMPLOYERS
300-1,000 employees
Outstanding Programs
Bay Area,Air Quality Management District San Francisco
City of Alameda Alameda
City of Hayward Hayward
City of Pleasanton Pleasanton
City of Redwood City Redwood City
Davies Medical Center San Francisco
Kaiser Electronics San Jose
Miles Inc. Berkeley
San Mateo County Transit District San Mateo County sites
Syva Company Santa Clara County sites
Underwriters Laboratories Inc. Santa Clara
Xerox Research Center Palo Alto
Strong Programs
AMEX Life Assurance Co. San Rafael
BASS Tickets Concord
Berlex Biosciences Richmond
BT North America Inc. San Jose
DHL Worldwide Express Redwood City
East Bay Municipal Utility District Oakland
Farmers Insurance Pleasanton
Hitachi America, Ltd. Brisbane
Lesher Communications, Inc. Contra Costa County sites
Palo Alto Medical Foundation Palo Alto
Safeway, Inc.—Supply lValnut Creek
Shell Oil Co. Martinez
Sony Corporation of America San JoselSunnyvale
A
SMALL EMPLOYERS
less than 300 employees
Outstanding Programs
Andros Incorporated Berkeley
City of Menlo Park Menlo Park
PTP Software, Inc. San Francisco
Santa Clara County Traffic Authority San Jose
Sonoma County Water Agency Santa Rosa
Zellerbach South San Francisco
Strong Programs
City of Belmont Belmont
City of San Carlos San Carlos
Provident Central Credit Union Redwood City
Supercuts San Francisco
Wadsworth, Inc. Belmont
BUSINESS PARKS AND CENTERS
Outstanding Programs
Bishop Ranch Business Park San Ramon
Contra Costa Centre Association Contra Costa County
Hacienda Business Park Pleasanton
Strong Programs
City Center (Bramalea Pacific, Inc.) Oakland
e
Highlights of the 11 Best Programs
Just a quick glance.
Even a quick glance at this year's "100 Best" provides
some illuminating facts and statistics about employers' efforts
and roles in solving the Bay Area's transportation problem.
A good percentage of these employers-37 percent to be
exact—employ a full-time employee transportation coordi-
nator(ETC). The remaining 63 percent have a part-time
ETC to administer their program.
Many of these employers have outstanding support from top
management, and some have even taken a proactive role in
working with other employers and local government to
solve traffic congestion problems in their area.
We also found that the average drive-alone rate among these
organizations' employees was 65 percent—almost 10 per-
cent lower than the Bay Area average.
For your reading pleasure—and use.
We've highlighted on the following pages a few of
the many creative and effective ways that this year's "100
Best" employers have served their commuting employees.
We hope you'll find this information helpful in further
developing your own transportation program.
e
To encourage carpooling and
vanpooling
88% offer ridematching through RIDES
.F
71% have preferential parking for carlvanpools
68% provide in-house ridematching
32% offer financial.incentives to vanpoolers
25% give financial incentives to carpoolers
19% offer reduced parking fees for carlvanpools
I
Employees from both the City of Santa Clara and Contra
Costa County are allowed to use employer-owned vehicles
for carpooling.
Car care certificates are awarded as prizes to carpoolers
at Apple Computer.
In Hayward, carpool teams of three city employees get free
use of city-owned vehicles to carpool to and from BART.
Carpoolers atlellerbach receive special vouchers for oil
changes and other car-related services.
BASS Tickets provides gas money for carpoolers.
Santa Clara County Traffic Authority offers free vans to
employees who want to start a vanpool.
Syva fully subsidizes vanpools for eligible employees in its
relocation program.
Employees at Apple Computer can access ridematching
information electronically 24 hours a day.
At Children's Hospital in Oakland, top management
structured parking rates to encourage employees to carpool
and vanpool.
e
TO promote transit use
70`Y sell transit tickets and passes on-site !
47% offer financial incentives to transit users
Commuter Check'16% provide Comm ' vouchers k
East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) gives free
transit tickets to employees who travel between worksites.
The County of Santa Cruz increased parking fees to fund a
free bus pass program.
At Palo Alto Medical Foundation, new pass buyers are given
gifts, including balloon bouquets and theater tickets.
At BT North America, more than 10 percent of all employ-
ees regularly use Commuter Check vouchers for transit
tickets and passes.
Hacienda Business Park provides free bus transportation
to and from BAR"I' and on several bus routes for employees
of tenants. Employees simply show their Flash Pass to
ride for free.
"Because we are a government agency in fiscally
conservative times, it is difficult to offer cash incentives or
spend large amounts of money.The TRIP program has
come up with low- to no-cost incentives, ranging from
T-shirts and donated restaurant meals to surplus
bikes from the sheriff s office for the Bikepool."
Kirsten Palmborg
County of Santa Cruz
employeesTo help
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49%rpartl,y. or fully.fund:shuttles to transit sEationsl' ''
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20'/,par'tl.y.or,fully fl -
lunchtime shuttle� ,-
Lockheed Missiles & Space Company has increased the
number of shuttle drivers by 50 percent in both 1991
and 1992.
Bishop Ranch Business Park in San Ramon provides free
luxury buses to BART and to three nearby shopping
centers for employees at lunchtime.
Having relocated to Richmond, Berlex Biosciences has
implemented shuttles to BART and other significant incen=
tives to encourage employees to move nearby rather than
travel from outlying areas.
Many employers have a guaranteed ride home program
for employees to get where they need to go in case of an
emergency or overtime work schedule.
"Solving environmentalltrarz.rpot-tation problems
not only makes good business sense for PG&E, it
reinforces our commitment to the communities "ive
serve throughout the state of California."
Raelene Weaver
Pacific Gas & Electric Company
To encourage bicycling
87% furnish bike racks
83% furnish showers and/or lockers
I S% offer financial incentives to bicyclists
Miles Inc. has helped to fund a new bicycle route with
the City of Berkeley.
The City of Santa Clara loans city bicycles to employees
who wish to bike to work and/or use a bicycle for
lunch-hour errands.
Apple Computer provides free bikes for inter-office trans-
portation. Employees are introduced to the bicycle program
through orientation sessions.
Kaiser Permanente (Northern California) offers a Corporate
Bike Club for commuters who bicycle to work.
City of Hayward employees are reimbursed up to $260 for
the cost of their bicycle when they sign a contract promising
that they'll bike to work at least half of the time.
In Stanford University's Bike Buddies program, employees
receive a State of California bicycle registration, ridematch-
ing services (so that novices can be accompanied by experi-
enced bike commuters), and bike maintenance instructions
and have clothes lockers available.
At Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, shuttle buses are
equipped with bike racks so that bicyclists can ride the
shuttle up the hill.
Many employers sponsor a Bike to Work Day, with prizes
for participants.
iO offer convenience for employees
I% provide on-site services (ATMs,.cafeteria,
�.. : child care, post office, and more)
1 .. .. ......
Pacific Gas & Electric Company and Syva provide child-care
facilities at their corporate sites.
Hewlett-Packard (Santa Rosa) has its own satellite school in
cooperation with the Santa Rosa School District.
Miles Inc. provides picnic tables, ping pong, and a noon-
hour exercise/walking club for employees.
Supercuts caters lunch on-site once a week for
its employees.
GTE Government Systems furnishes on-site jewelry sales,
novelty sales, garden plots, overnight photo developing,
mechanic services, exercise facilities, a real-estate savings
program, and "makeover" and "dress for success" classes.
"Aliproximately .rix employees drive electric carr and can
charge their cars at their Hewlett-Packard sites for free."
Kathleen Frizzi
Hewlett-Packard
"Changing behavior requires a high degree of trust.
The City wants that trust level to be evident to its
employees. so change is not as scary."
Joan Moulthrop
City of Santa Rosa
To get the word out about commute alternatives
88% participate in California Rideshare Week and
i
Beat the Back-Up Day !
i
I 88% post information on bulletin boards i
j 76%write items in newsletters and other publications
75% orient new employees about commute
j alternatives
63% participate in Clean Air Week®, Earth Day, and
other campaigns
I
58% participate in the "Spare the Air" program
Sun Microsystems' parking lot signs ask employees, "Have
you considered the alternatives?" and "Are you driving
yourself crazy?" and remind them that "We can't fuel
around anymore."
Varian holds brown-bag seminars for employees interested
in transportation issues.
The City of Santa Rosa issues commute-alternatives quizzes
on e-mail and ridesharing material to read in the restroom.
City of Alameda's "Pledged Alameda City Employee
Ride Share" (PACERS) program has 13 departmental
coordinators so that employees in each department have a
contact promoting commute alternatives.
Lockheed Missiles & Space Company held 15 commuter
coffees in 199.2 for its employees.
Sonoma County Water Agency's transportation coordinator
formed a band called The Roadhogs, which plays old
melodies with commute-alternative lyrics.
worksites
To offerfschedulest
l f
( 75%offer flexible work Hours j
46°x6 have a compressed work week-
38%-have.a-telecommuting
eek38%•have.a-telecommuting program
Oracle Corporation offers free home and terminal lines for
telecommuters.
Kaiser Permanente throughout Northern California calls
its telecommuting program Flexi-placing to emphasize the
program's flexibility.
"Promotions such as our• Coveted Cowpool Cup for the
department with the highest percentage of PACERS
(Pledged Alameda City Employee Ride Share) and
the Plenty of Pacers Award for the department with
the highest numher of PACERS . . . all
help keep our program fresh and fun.','
Laura Timothy
City of Alameda
"We have a CAVE (Commute Alternatives Video
F_xtraordinaire) which provides every new employee with
an opportunity to hear ahout the rep and down sides of
commute alternatives from their peers who use them."
Linda Griffin
Intel Corporation
To reward employees who leave their car at home
60% offer financial incentives for one or more
commute alternatives
1
54% give"away prizes or other benefits to j
commute-alternative users f
1
Ij 13% offer.fin.ancial incentives for walkers
With Apple's Dollar-a-Day program, employees receive
$1 for each day they use an alternative to driving alone.
Kaiser Permanente (Santa Clara) offers coffee bucks for
commuters who rideshare. Employees can also join a
commuter club to receive prizes and discounts at
local vendors.
John Muir Medical Center offers CHIPs (Cash Health
Incentive Points) as prizes to employees who use
commute alternatives.
At Applied Materials, employees who don't drive alone
are awarded 15 points each day to apply toward items
at a year-end auction.
Silicon Graphics offers trips to London, roller blades,
and dinner certificates to employees who use commute
alternatives.
The City of Pleasanton offers its Commuter of the Month
$50, and $300 to its Commuter of the Year.
"The success of our `Only the Lonely Drive Alone'
program is clue to top management's commitment
to conserve fuel, improve our environment,
and reduce traffic congestion."
Susan Pixmer
Andros Incorporated
A
supportTo demonstrate management
When a City of Santa Clara employee registers in the
commute alternatives program, the city manager sends a
congratulatory letter to the employee's supervisor, com-
mending the employee.
The president/CEO carpools regularly with other
executives at New United Motor in Fremont.
At Davies Medical Center in San Francisco, it was the
president who proposed the $20 monthly transit subsidy
now in place.
When the City of Alameda began its PACERS program,
the mayor sent a letter to all department heads asking for
support, and the public works director and city engineer
donated their reserved parking spaces for carpools to use.
Hewlett-Packard's executive vice president wrote a letter
to 16,500 HP employees explaining how important it was to
support improvement of public transit in Santa Clara
County.
At a transportation fair, Intel Corporation's founder and
chairman of the board announced the winners of a raffle.
Also at Intel, the chief operating officer signs the introduc-
tion letter in the "New Employee's Commute Alternatives
Packet."
At Tandem Computers, two senior vice presidents bike to
work and other members of senior management carpool.
To help promote commute alternatives and advertise a
commuter fair, Apple Computer's president/CEO sent a
voice mail message to all Apple employees in the
Santa Clara Valley.
At Applied Materials, senior management participate
regularly in program activities such as the "Trans Fair,"
where they ride shuttles and encourage employees to
do so as well.
To encou rage the use of alternative fuels
IBM's four shuttle buses are fueled by compressed
natural gas.
Hewlett-Packard supplies free electricity for employees
who commute with electric-powered vehicles.
Lockheed Missiles & Space Company offers electric carts
and alternative-fuel taxis as part of its shuttle services.
Representatives from Pacific Gas & Electric Company's
Clean Air Vehicles department are working with transit
providers to encourage the use of natural gas as a transit
fuel. In collaboration with BART, Pacific Gas & Electric
Company is sponsoring a demonstration project at the
Lafayette BART station to educate the public about
electric vehicles.
"For Beat the Back-Up Day, two top vice presidents
rouged a canoe to work, in snits and with a
portable phone in hand."
Robin Manley
Oracle Corporation
PMilestones on s
i 1
The 100 employers featured here have
passed some challenging obstacles—
including funding during rough
economic times—on the road to a
better.transpo.rta.tion program. These
i obstacles have been overcome by
Corganizations both public and
private, small and large. We
congratulate them all for
j their imaginative endeavors
and persistence.
If you'd like your organization to be E
I considered for next year's "100 Best,"
callus at 1_800-755=POOL and
ask for Employer Services. We can
help you develop your program
further and put you in touch with other
employers who share your questions
and concerns.
RIDES extends a special thanks to all "100 Best"program
managers and employee transportation coordinators who
shared their thoughts,ideas,and experiences for
this booklet.
A
RIDES bestows an "Honorable Mention"
to all Bay Area employers who have strategically located
themselves within walking distance of public transit.
A
Funds for the 1993 "100 Best"were
principally provided by the Metropolitan Transportation
Commission.Additional support was provided by the
California Department of Transportation.
A
A private, nonprofit organization,
RIDES for Bay Area Commuters is dedicated to
providing assistance to commuters and employers, and
to helping relieve traffic congestion and air pollution
throughout the 10-county region. RIDES receives its
principal funding from the Federal Highway
Administration, the California Department of
Transportation, and the Metropolitan
Transportation Commission.
A
RIDES for Bay Area Commuters gratefully thanks
Mr. Milton Moskowitz for developing the "100 Best"
concept for his survey and publication, The 100 Best
Companies to Work for in America.
Printed on recycled paper with soy-based inks