HomeMy WebLinkAbout1996-01-18 City Council (6)City of Palo Alto
Mana er’ Repor
TO:HONORABLE CITY COUNCIL
FROM:CITY MANAGER DEPARTMENT: Human Resources
DATE:January 18, 1996 CMR: 121:96
SUBJECT:City of Palo Alto’s Commute Alternatives Program
REQUEST
This is an information report and no Council action is requested.
RECOMMENDATIONS
There are no recommendations required for City Council to consider in this report.
POLICY IMPLICATIONS:
There is no impact on existing policies.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This informational report presents the background, development, and current status of the City
ofPalo Alto’s Commute Alternatives Program. The program was developed after the the City
adopted the Transportation Demand Management (TDM) Ordinance in November 1990 and has
resulted in achievement of 1995 trip reduction objectives.
In January 1991, the Golden Triangle Commuter Network became the desigrtated agency
authorized to administer the provisions of the TDM Ordinance. In 1993, the Bay Area Air
Quality Management District (BAAQMD) assumed administrative authority to implement their
Regulation 13, Rule 1. The purpose of this state-mandated regulation was to encourage
decreasing air pollutant emissions from motor vehicles by reducing the number of vehicles used
traveling to and from work sites during the peak commute hours of 6 a.m. through 10 a.m. The
rule applied to all public and private employers with work sites of 100 or more employees, and
used performance objectives by which compliance is monitored through an annual survey.
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In 1995, State legislature enacted SB 437 (Lewis), Chapter 607, prohibiting an air district or any
other public agency (including cities) from requiring an employer to implement an employee
trip reduction program effective January 1, 1996. The new State legislation does not provide
any new mechanism to address the problems of air pollution, traffic congestion, or energy
consumption. For these reasons, the Air District has strongly urged all employers to continue
their efforts to encourage and facilitate the use of commute alternatives by their employees. The
City and other members of the Stanford Research Park Area Transportation Group (25
companies with locations in the Palo Alto area) have not cut back or eliminated their commute
alternatives programs.
DISCUSSION
Why the Commute Alternatives Program Came into Being
The State of California’s Clean Air Act of 1988 was established in response to poor air quality
and traffic congestion, and includes more stringent standards regarding ozone than the Federal
Clean Air Act. Initial efforts to implement California’s act concentrated on monitoring and
lowering manufacturings’ emissions. Later, an amendment to California’s Act gave the
California Air District the authority to include mobile sources of pollution, thus broadening the
scope of pollution control.
At the same time, the Golden Triangle Task Force, a coalition of local agencies including the
City of Palo Alto and the County of Santa Clara, developed a model Transportation Demand
Management (TDM) ordinance. Each member of the Golden Triangle Task Force was
encouraged to adopt this ordinance to create consistent requirements for program development,
implementation, monitoring and reporting throughout the member jurisdictions. In November
1990, the City of Palo Alto adopted its TDM Ordinance, Vehicles and Traffic, Chapter 10.70.
In response to the City’s TDM ordinance, a Commute Coordinator position responsible for
developing a Commute Alternatives Program was assigned to the Human Resources
Department.
In 1993, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) was given the authority
to administer the State’s Employer Transportation Demand Management Regulations.
BAAQMD’s Regulation 13, Rule 1, required employers to perform annual employee
transportation surveys to monitor the effectiveness of their trip reduction programs.
Performance is measured in terms of a vehicle/employee ratio (VER).
VER is calculated on the basis of employees who start work during the peak period of 6 a.m.
through 10 a.m., Monday through Friday, and the number of vehicles they use to commute to
and from their work place. AVER of.80 means 80 vehicles are used for every 100 employees
arriving at a work site during the peak commute hours. Therefore, 20 vehicles trips for every
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100 employees are replaced by use of various alternative commute modes such as walking,
public transit, carpooling, bike riding, telecommuting and compressed work weeks.
Regulation 13, Rule 1 defines four geographic zones: Zone 1, Northeastern San Francisco, Zone
2 High Density Urban, Zone 3 Southern Counties and Zone 4, Northern Counties. The City of
Palo Alto is located in Zone 3 with other cities in Santa Clara County.
VER Performance Objectives
Zone 3
1994 1995 1996 1997 1998
0.87 0.83 0.80 0.77 0.74
Palo Alto’s Commute Alternatives Program
Palo Alto’s response to the need of reducing congestion and improving air quality is a Commute
Alternatives Program. Within three years after the City adopted the TDM Ordinance, the
Human Resources Department developed and implemented several program incentives to
encourage employees to use commute alternatives. These incentives are:
Commute Vouchers for Carpoolers, Walkers, and Bicyclists
An employee u.sing a commute alternative the required number of days a month receives
a maximum of $20 in vouchers, each worth $5 in merchandise or services. These
vouchers reflect the alternative commute modes used. Employees walking to work
receive shoe vouchers, bicycle riders receive bike shop vouchers, and carpoolers receive
gas vouchers.
Commuter Checks
A tax-free Commuter Check for $20 is provided per month toward the purchase of a
monthly transit pass for participants using public transportation.
Loaner Bikes for Bicycle Commuters
A limited number of City-owned bicycles are provided on a rotational basis for
commuting purposes. Employees are able to explore whether biking to work is a viable
alternative for them to use.
Guaranteed Ride Home
Employees who use any one of the commute alternatives are guaranteed a ride home in
the event of an emergency.
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Telecommuting
Employees voluntarily work at home one or more days per week on a regular basis.
Compressed Work Weeks
A compressed work week is completing a scheduled number of working hours in less
than the standard number of days. This type of work schedule is available for qualified
employees based on management’s scheduling needs.
Employees must fulfill the following requirements in order to receive the Commute Alternatives
Program subsidy:
Be a regular employee
Register with the Commute Coordinator
Use an alternative commute mode 60 percent of their scheduled work days, including
paid leave days (12 days per month for the standard 40 hour, 5 day work week)
Complete, sign, and submit a calendar log of their commute days each month prior to
receiving a voucher subsidy or commuter check.
Written guidelines for each component of the program are available to all employees. These
guidelines are reviewed periodically to refine eligibility, service, and procedural standards.
Program Costs
The Commute Alternatives Program’s actual cost for fiscal year 1994-95 was $80 per employee.
The planned cost per employee based on this year’s budget is $111. The actual cost will not be
known unti! the end of the fiscal year in June of 1996.
Our cost compares favorably with those of other employers in the Bay Area. According to the
BAAQMD Economic Planning Advisor, the actual amount spent by companies that achieve
their VER goals is approximately $100 per employee. The results of a telephone inquiry
confirm the City’s cost is within the range of other local businesses in the Palo Alto area as well.
SUBSIDY COMPARISON
City of Palo Alto Co. #1 Co. #2 Co. #3 Co. #4 Co. #5 Co. #6 Co. #7
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1995 VER Survey
In April 1995 the required BAAQMD annual survey was conducted at two City work sites:
Civic Center and the Municipal Service Center (MSC). The Civic Center site consisted of the
Civic Center building and the Downtown Library. The MSC site consisted of the MSC, Utility
Control Center, and Animal Services buildings. The City was not required to survey other sites,
since none has 100 or more employees in a single, combined or adjacent work location.
The survey was conducted during a pre-determined one week period and included questions
about work schedules, method of travel to work, fuel type, and attitudes about using commute
alternatives. The surveys were sent to BAAQMD for tabulation and reporting purposes. Of the
689 surveys distributed, 644 (93 percent) were returned. The survey results incidated that the
City’s VER was .82, exceeding the 1995 BAAQMD Performance Objective of.83. The
table below compares the 1995 survey with the baseline survey in 1991.
COMMUTE SURVEYS
VER COMPARISON
Year
1991
1995
Survey
Response Rate
83.5%I
93%I
VER
.92
.82
The BAAQMD reported that after receiving survey results from approximately 55 percent of
the total work sites that are required to submit survey results, the average VER is .84 with an
average response rate of 81 percent. Currently 40 percent of covered employers do not meet
the required VER objectives.
Impact of the Commute Alternatives Program
In the last year, the Commute Alternatives Program increased in enrollment by 26 percent
and reduced the parking congestion in the downtown area by freeing up approximately 22
parking spaces each weekday. Forty-five percent of all registered Commute Alternatives
participants work at the Civic Center. The following chart shmvs the average number of
spaces made available by each commute alternative category.
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1994 COMMUTE ALTERNATIVE FIGURES
AVERAGE NUMBER OF PARKING SPACES MADE AVAILABLE BY COMMUTE
ALTERNATIVE USERS
Commute Alternative
Carpool
Bicycle&Walking
Public Transit
Total Average
Average # of Single Spaces
Made Available per mo.
127.7
98.3
260.4
486.4
Average # of Spaces Made ¯Available each day i5.8
11.8 II
I
The Commute Alternatives Program has also improved the morale of those employees who
use it, and this morale boost has benefited the City. The results from a City survey and an
analysis of payroll data for the 1994 calendar year show that employees using commute
alternatives tend to:
arrive at work on time
feel less stressed
think of the City, as an employer, in a more positive manner
average only 2.4% of their total annual salary in sick leave pay; department average
for the year was 3.8%.
Local businesses participating in the program are also benefitting. The City purchases
vouchers from them, and employees redeem the vouchers towards purchases at these
businesses, maintaining a circulation of funds within the City.
Conclusion
The City has established a successful Commute Alternatives Program, which has resulted in
a VER reduction from .92 to .82 in four years. Through this program the City has achieved
its trip reduction objective for 1995. As the program matures, we anticipate increasing the
number of participants and continuing to reduce the congestion on our City streets, parking
lots, and nearby freeways.
FISCAL IMPACT
None.
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ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT
There is no environmental assessment needed for this report.
PREPARED BY: Kathy Lee, Human Resources Representative
DEPARTMENT HEAD REVIEW:
CITY MANAGER APPROVAL:
JA?
Di~/
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