The news media regularly reports on the serious health problems associated with poor air quality and about the hours that we waste in traffic. In the United States, drivers spend an average of 36 hours sitting in traffic , costing an average of $760 per person annually . On-road vehicles are responsible for 44% of all CO2 emissions in the US, one-third of all NOx emissions and one-quarter of all VOC emissions . Yet, in Massachusetts, there is some good news. Commuters, with the help of their employers, can tackle these challenges head on by making small changes to the way they travel, which can go a long way towards reducing traffic and improving the air we breathe.
MassRIDES, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation’s statewide travel options service, works with employers, travelers, students, and communities to raise the awareness about the health and monetary benefits of switching from single occupancy vehicle (SOV) travel to carpooling, vanpooling, bicycling, walking, or public transit.
To do this, MassRIDES offers several free programs and services aimed at educating the public about their travel options:
- A full-time, multi-lingual customer service team assists travelers with trip planning, tripmatching, directions, traffic conditions, and related transportation questions via the toll-free 1.888.4COMMUTE and through the MassRIDES website, www.commute.com.
- TripMATCH is a free online service that matches travelers with potential carpools and vanpools statewide. Currently, 17,000 travelers are enrolled in TripMATCH, and approximately 39% have at least one match.
- The MassRIDES partnership program assists over 395 employers with implementing transportation programs aimed at reducing drive-alone commuting to worksites.
- The Emergency Ride Home (ERH) program is a free benefit of MassRIDES partnership. Two-hundred and twenty MassRIDES employer partners are enrolled in the program, and there are approximately 3,000 registered users. This low-cost incentive program costs only $.78 per registered commuter, but makes a big impact in changing the way employees travel.
MassRIDES partners vary greatly in size and industry, but all have one thing in common – they are forward-thinking employers who strive to improve the well-being of their employees and their communities. Partners offer a variety of travel demand management programs designed to reduce congestion at their worksites, decrease air pollution, and save their company money, including offering preferential parking for carpools and vanpools, installing bicycle parking and facilities, providing parking cash-out for non-SOV travelers, operating shuttle services to local transit stations or park and ride lots, or providing subsidies and incentives for those who carpool, vanpool, bicycle, walk, or take transit. Employers also offer pre-tax benefits for transit and vanpool users. Section 132(f) of the federal tax code enables employers to offset the cost of vanpool or transit costs up to $230 per employee per month, and write these costs off as a business expense.
Smart companies know that offering commuter benefits not only makes the air we breathe cleaner and local roads less congested. These programs put them one step ahead of the competition, making their worksites more sustainable, helping them recruit and retain the best talent, and improving the health and well-being of their teams.
For more information about MassRIDES visit www.commute.com.
######
______________________
1 Urban Mobility Report
2 Urban Mobility Report
3 Center for Transportation Excellence