 The
second part of the federal employee transportation coordinators
(ETCs) training was held at the Metropolitan Washington Council
of Governments on December 10, 2002. Several notable speakers
presented topics regarding Transportation Management Plans (TMPs),
vanpool options, and Metro’s SmartBenefit Program. Additionally,
the U.S. Census Bureau and the National Institutes of Health
shared their experience of implementing a TMP with the group of
20 federal coordinators attending the event.David Levy of the
National Capitol Planning Commission (NCPC) moderated the
session and gave the TMP presentation to the group. NCPC’s role
is to oversee new-facilities development or facilities
modifications for federal agencies in the national capital area.
They also ensure that federal agencies comply with parking
development regulations.
Ken Jarocki of VPSI Commuter Vanpools, presented his
company’s vanpool options and procedures. Vanpools are among the
most popular alternative means of commuting for federal
employees. The I-95 corridor has the greatest number of vanpools
in the country. Commuters can use pre-tax or employer-subsidized
Metrocheks to pay for their monthly vanpool expenses, and now
Metro has streamlined the process with the SmartBenefits
paperless system. Mr. Jarocki demonstrated parking savings
generated by vanpools. Did you know that eight vanpools could
free up more than 100 parking spaces?
Lorraine Taylor of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit
Authority (WMATA) presented Metro’s SmartBenefits program. The
new bus fare box that is now being tested on board Metrobuses in
Arlington County, Virginia was on display. Soon, bus passengers
will be allowed to use SmarTrip cards aboard all Metrobuses, and
even recharge their SmarTrip fare cards on board the bus. This
convenience will help reduce the need for paper and also expand
the uses for the rechargeable fare card. There are over 250
federal agencies that offer SmartBenefits to their employees.
Steve Taylor of the U.S. Census Bureau presented an excellent
case study of how the Census Bureau implemented a TMP. He
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the challenges his agency faced
in setting up new transportation guidelines for its employees.
The Census Bureau created a project team to address the
challenges of TMP implementation. The new facility will offer
many commuting options to Census Bureau employees, including
Metrorail, Metrobus, vanpools, and carpools. On November 13,
2002, the Census Bureau had a very successful transportation
fair. The TMP involves constructing a Commuter Corner at the
Bureau worksite, which will provide information on all of the
alternative commuting options available to employees, as well as
offering other services such as ride-matching applications and
Guaranteed Ride Home applications. The next U.S. Census Bureau
transportation fair will be held on Wednesday, April 23, 2003,
at Census Bureau’s Main Street Café food court.
 Tom
Hayden shared an equally engaging case study of how the National
Institutes of Health (NIH) developed their TMP. The NIH TMP is
among the most successful in the Washington Metropolitan area
for federal agencies. The NIH Transhare Program subsidizes
employees’ public transportation costs up to $100.00. NIH boasts
over 370 carpools and 10 vanpools, each receiving preferential
parking at the NIH site. NIH is part of Commuter Connections and
provides Matchlists and other pertinent commuter information to
its thousands of employees. More than 600 bicycle racks and
lockers located close to buildings are available for employees
and there is free bicycle registration for employees who bike to
work. NIH provides an employee shuttle program with over 20
buses and five lines (one on-campus, four off-campus) which
carry approximately 3,400 riders each day. The success of the
NIH TMP can be measured by a 30 percent reduction of peak-hour
traffic and a reduction in parking ratio from .56 to .45 spaces
per employee.
Christopher Arabia of Commuter Connections gave the group a
brief overview of the federal ETC Web site. The Web site,
www.federaletc.org, offers many links for resources and
information, as well as details about training for ETCs,
including information on December’s federal ETC presentation.
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