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Week In Transportation:
March 5,
2002
A high-rise transportation solution
The Bank of
America Tower (right) is the first high-rise building in King County to take
part in a new congestion-relief package in which employers in the high-rise
subsidize free bus passes, priority carpools and other commute options for
3,500 employees there. Celebrating the innovative program at the Fifth Avenue
Plaza, in front of a red Metro Vanpool van, green FlexCar, and a Metro bus, are
(from left) Seattle Transportation Director Grace Crunican, King County
Executive Ron Sims, Kate Joncas with the Downtown Seattle Association, Patrick
Callahan with Equity Office.
[enlarged view: 62K]
Employees in downtown Seattle are being offered a new package of commute
options designed to cut down on their daily driving hassles, while relieving
regional traffic congestion. The 3,500 workers inside Seattle's tallest
building are among the first to be invited to participate.
The "Bank of America Tower Commute Option Program" is a partnership of King
County Metro Transit, the City of Seattle, the
Downtown Seattle Association (DSA)
[external link] and
Equity Office
[external link], owner of the tower. Equity Office is also offering a
significant financial contribution to subsidize this program for tower
employers, who in turn will be offering their employees free bus passes,
priority carpools and options to make commuting easier.
"King County has been working to develop a variety of services that
encourage employees working in downtown Seattle to leave their cars at home,"
said King County Executive Ron Sims. "This partnership allows Metro Transit to
reach out to smaller companies and their employees, so we can reduce traffic
congestion both in the downtown core and regionally."
Metro has been very successful in working with large employers to reduce the
number of employees driving alone to work. But until now, the county did not
have a comprehensive program to meet the needs of work sites with multiple
employers, such as the high-rise office buildings in downtown Seattle.
The new program is part of a
larger campaign
[external link] being launched in conjunction
with the DSA. It is designed to alleviate access
and parking issues for employers, employees and property managers. Components
include the following:
- Extending trip reduction options to smaller employers, since almost 50
percent -- about 85,000 people -- of the employees in downtown work for
employers that are not regulated by the state commute trip reduction laws;
- Partnering with building owners and managers to develop building-wide
trip reduction initiatives; and
- Offering new programs to address customer parking availability.
The first transportation program at the Bank of America Tower includes a
variety of successful King County Metro and Sound Transit products. Employers
choosing to participate in the tower program will receive discounts and
incentives for the following:
- Area
FlexPass -- unlimited access on Metro regular bus routes, Sound
Transit Express bus routes and Sound Transit commuter rail services;
- Flexcar access -- the popular car-sharing program that provides the
availability of a vehicle when needed, without driving to work;
- FlexPark enrollment -- employees with subsidized parking can trade in
their spaces for financial rewards;
- Carpool assistance -- with discounted parking and priority spaces; and
- Bicycling support
-- including lockers and showers.
Equity Office will also reimburse Bank of America Tower employers
$100 for every FlexPass distributed to an employee. Combined with the other
incentives, employers could save up to 60 percent a year on employee
transportation costs. Read the full
details on the program.
Read more:
"Efforts
to reduce traffic are looking up," Seattle P-I, March 6, 2002
"Downtown
business commuters get a break," Seattle Times, March 6, 2002
"EOP Subsidizing Commute Trip
Reduction Program," GlobeSt.com, March 5, 2002
"Teaming up for a high-rise transportation solution,"
news release, March 5, 2002
Other news this week in transportation
-
King County Executive Ron Sims got a little help early last Friday when he
was out to help
reopen the new Overlake park-and-ride lot, which has been closed for almost two years of
construction. In the air space over the lot are 308 units of
affordable housing at The Village at
Overlake Station, a first-of-its-kind project for
transit-oriented development.
Residents are receiving one free bus pass per unit, and Metro expects three
to five times more transit ridership from The Village at Overlake Station
than seen at other suburban apartment complexes -- another King Country
Transportation strategy to take a bite out of traffic.
Kudos
-
 Major Carol Cummings is the new commander of Metro
Transit Police, a force of 27 full-time sergeants, deputies and detectives
from the King County Sheriff's Office who ensure transit security.
Cummings also draws on the services of 350 part-time, off-duty Seattle Police
Department officers. Together, they patrol the Metro Transit system and
its facilities by bus, bike and car to make sure you get where you want to go
without incident.
Cummings is a veteran law enforcement officer with more
than 18 years at the King County Sheriff's Office. She has served King County
as a detective, patrol sergeant, Special Operations sergeant, precinct
lieutenant and captain, Technical Services captain, and most recently,
Criminal Investigation Division captain.
- Metro Transit's popular Huskies football special service
carried a record number of fans this season and managed to do it even as the
Mariners went deep into the October postseason.
By the end
of the six-game Huskies football season, Metro's special service had carried
about 177,000 Huskies fans to and from the games. For each home game, Metro
provided 175 buses and operators and 18 supervisors to transport fans between
the stadium and eight park-and-ride lots throughout the region. But
staff faced a quadruple whammy the weekend of Oct. 6, when they had to
find enough buses and operators to fill 176 assignments for a Huskies game,
241 assignments for a Seahawks game and 56 assignments for two Mariners
games.
Congratulations to Metro
Transit's Special Service Planners John May and Bernie Durant for planning
and scheduling the service, and Service Quality staff Rudy Allen,
Catfish Louie, Paul Rodgers and Mike Lemeshko for making sure the service ran
smoothly on the streets.
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