Workplace Active Transportation Initiatives

Hi Leon,
Nice work - looks like an exciting initiative. I've been part of the TravelSmart projects for about 18mths now in Victoria, Australia and these projects target workplaces (as well as schools, universities and activity centres) and delivered by local government, with a combination of local gov't and state gov't funding.
Here's a link to the State Gov't webpage. There's good travel planning resources there as well.
http://www.transport.vic.gov.au/doi/internet/ict.nsf/headingpagesdisplay/travelsmart

There's two parts to the program in Victoria. TravelSmart is the behaviour change program, and LAAP (Local Area Access Program) is the infrastructure site, that helps fund small scale upgrades.

Happy to give more detail, or links to other resources.
Cheers
Chris

Chris Hui
Sustainable Transport Officer
City of Boroondara
Australia

Hi Leon,

At the City of New Westminster (B.C., Canada) we have partnerships with three of our major employers (each with more than 100 staff) to promote sustainable transportation. We started with a comprehensive survey of staff transportation habits and barriers, as well as surveys of baseline transportation infrastructure and programs/policies/practices that influence transportation mode choice for staff at each employer. From there we've developed recommendations and are now working in on-going partnerships around implementation. Recommendations are tailored to each workplace, but in general may include infrastructure updates (e.g. bike racks / showers) community-based social marketing inspired campaigns/activities, and implementation of policies/practices/partnerships (e.g. guaranteed ride home programs, discounted transit passes, access to ride-matching programs etc.).

If you'd like any more information, please do not hesitate to contact me directly at jneumann@newwestcity.ca.

Sincerely,
Jenyfer Neumann

Jenyfer Neumann
City of New Westminster
Canada

Hi Leon,

When I worked in the UK this was a typical kind of initiative and most of the local governments had a "Travel planning" officer, or similar who supported local business and acted as the hub for local and regional sustainable travel initiatives. I held this role in a London borough and we worked with local businesses to develop individual plans that linked together in such a way that the SMEs were able to run individual and joint programs.

A very successful partnership was in Cambridge, see www.travelplanplus.eu/participants/ccctfw.php for an overview & www.tfw.org.uk for the partnership site.

I have been looking for similar programs in Canada, especially in BC but haven't found anything similar so far.

I have lots of further info if you need it - just drop me a line & good luck!

Patricia

Patricia Barnes
Canada

The Region of Waterloo has a Travelwise program supporting sustainable commuting choices for local employers. More info in the following link: http://www.region.waterloo.on.ca/web/region.nsf/0/22109C5E1CE95C5485257181004D11A0?OpenDocument (inactive link - please copy into your browser).

David Roewade
Environmental Sustainability Planner
Region of Waterloo - Corporate Resources
150 Frederick Street, 5th Floor
Waterloo, ON, N2G 4J3
(519) 575-4757 Ext. 3308
Fax. (519) 584-7102



rdavid 

Hi David
Is the Regional Municipality of Waterloo using the GPS hardware from the Centre for Sustainable Transportation study of bicycle commuter travel patterns that was conducted in 2009 in the City of Winnipeg?

Gary Beaton
Calgary tour de nuit Society
Canada
www.morepeoplecycling.ca

Hi Leon,

I've been working on the Active and Safe Routes to School (ASRTS) program you mention on the French side for sometime and in the Toronto area I know that Smart Commute has been working on car pooling with businesses. It's nothing like what you're doing, but they might have some info to help in terms of their approach with businesses.

Do keep in mind there are several programs in addition to the ASRTS program so you can look at www.canadawalks.ca for more information.

Looks exciting, keep us posted!

http://www.smartcommute.ca/

Gabriel Sirois
Green Communities
Canada

To answer Gary's question, yes we are participating in the cycling GPS study. For more information contact GMarsh@regionofwaterloo.ca

DR

David Roewade
Sustainability Planner
Region of Waterloo
Canada
www.region.waterloo.on.ca/sustainability

The Bike to Work program in Metro Vancouver is a partnership of local governments, local businesses, and a non-profit (VACC) aiming to increase the cycling mode share of employees. The program has two big events during the yesr during for which participants can sign up free, create a company team, and track their cycling progress through the event weeks and the rest of the year.

The real-time competition results can be viewed and filtered to type and size of company, and personal tracking through calorie and carbon savings displays are another motivating factor. The website also provides lots of education and resources on best bike routes, commuter station locations, gear for riding in all weather, etc.

You can test this out at our website (which will have its newest version updates and added features October 1)
www.biketoworkmetrovan.ca

As for its effectiveness, since the program's start in 2007, program counts have shown a 162% increase in cyclists at our events.

Erin O'Melinn
Bike to Work Program Manager
Vancouver Area Cycling Coalition
Canada

Hi Leon,

I have just joined the group, so I am not sure if you are underway with your project. We have developed a Public Authority/Private Enterprise concept here in Perth WA called Calico (CALories In Calories Out). It is an online resource using markers on walk/cycle paths to calibrate energy expenditure. Just finished a 12 month trial that went really well, and have a Phase 1 roll-out to 10 LGA's to start in Feb2011. The concept delivers measurable outcomes with aggregate reporting, and is particularly good for group motivation. If you would like any info. more than happy to chat, Kind regards, Kevin

Kevin Owens
Director
Calico Pty Ltd
Australia
www.mycalico.com

Hi Gary and David,

It was less expensive for the Region of Waterloo to purchase our own GPS units than to use the units from the Winnipeg study.

Regarding AT planning with businesses, Smart Commute in Toronto is a well established commuter options program. The Region of Waterloo is developing a similar program with several large insurance and tech companies in Waterloo. In these cases, however, we aren't identifying and addressing the barriers but rather facilitating the use of services that are already provided.

John Hill

John Hill
Principal Planner, Transportation Demand Management
Region of Waterloo
Canada

Has anyone ever tried incentives for workers who live close to their workplace? Isn't part of the problem that people live far away and have to cross whole metro regions to get to work?

I've been thinking about a plan where businesses are somehow rewarded for the proportion of their employees who live within a certain radius. The business would be incentivized to hire more-local people. The subsidy would help them train local people who might not have exactly the skills they'd get from someone across town.

Higher-skilled workers could be rewarded for moving closer to their workplace. And it could all be combined with greater emphasis on working from home at least part of the time.

Not only would active travel be easier, this would help build the connection between a company and its neighborhoods, because a larger portion of its employees would live nearby.

I'm not in any position of responsibility for such things, but I am working with a newly-elected county commissioner, and we're looking at ways our county can begin to move toward sustainability.

Virginia Bruce
Vice-chair
Citizens' Participation Organization #1 (Portland, OR)
United States
http://cpo1friends.org