Cleaner Commute
The way we commute or travel for regular trips on a daily basis has a great impact on our budget, quality of life, and the environment. Since the start of the pandemic, commute patterns have changed, but individual transportation behaviors continue to be a leading cause of transportation pollution. Single occupancy vehicles are a primary source of transportation carbon pollution and increase congestion on our streets. Reducing the reliance on single occupancy vehicles and encouraging mode shift can greatly improve the region’s air quality. According to the EPA, the U.S transportation sector accounts for approximately 29% of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions, leading all other sectors. Transportation is also an environmental justice and equity issue, in regards to both mobility choices and the harmful impacts of the transportation sector. The Council strongly advocates for improved public transit, biking, and walking infrastructure, carpooling, and for creative options to reduce pollution including usage based fees like pay-per-mile insurance and continuing the surge in telework.
Switching away from single-occupancy vehicle commuting helps to lower carbon emissions, protect local air quality, and reduce traffic congestion. Choosing to walk, bike, ride transit, carpool, enroll in pay-per-mile insurance, or telework can improve the impact on the region and the planet. Employers’ policies have a big role in which commuting methods are feasible for their employees, so it is vital that they take proactive steps to support and encourage a whole range of sustainable commuting options.
The Problem
In the Philadelphia region, more than 70% of workers drive alone for their daily commute. This overdependence on single occupancy vehicles massively contributes to greenhouse gas emissions and traffic congestion on our streets. These emissions negatively affect our air quality and increase public health issues such as asthma and other cardiovascular illnesses. Many workers feel they do not have an adequate alternative option, or worse, are being incentivized to drive to work alone by their employers.
Workplaces in suburban office parks without proximity to transit, and offering free parking to employees without matching that real cost as a benefit to transit commuters are reasons many commuters feel driving alone is their only option. There are many ways employers can reduce the carbon footprint of their employees’ commute by offering supportive policies that encourage sustainable travel. This includes promoting and incentivizing carpooling, offering transit benefits, allowing flexible work schedules and telecommuting, and installing bicycle infrastructure at the office.
Continuous construction on roads like I-95 further contribute to the increase in traffic congestion which affects commuters’ quality of life and also disrupts work schedules. PennDOT is actively working on a multi-decade-long, construction project to reconstruct, widen, and improve the I-95 corridor through the Philadelphia region. The section between I-676 and Cottman Ave is one of the most congested sections on the I-95 corridor. This causes rush-hour drivers to waste 58 hours in traffic, 25 gallons of gas, and over $1,074 per year. Commuters using I-95 and other congested roads in the region can reduce their stress and environmental impact if they and their employers utilize some of the sustainable transportation strategies listed below.
THE SOLUTION
The Council helps employers and employees shift away from one-car one-person commuting towards a combination of walking, biking, riding transit, working from home, and carpooling. We help connect workplaces with transit benefits programs and resources, advise workplaces on changes that can encourage sustainable commuting, and help create incentives for employees to get to work without the environmental impact of driving alone.
Commuter Benefits Program – The Council connects employers with benefits programs to encourage employees to use public transportation and carpooling. Benefits include voucher programs that allow commuters to save on transit by putting pre-tax dollars towards fares, bulk purchases of passes by institutional partners, and Emergency Ride Home which supports sustainable commuting by providing a ride home for employees in an emergency so they don’t need to worry about having a car with them.
Love to Ride – The Council runs two workplace cycling challenges for Cycle September and May Bike Month. During the Love to Ride Challenge workplaces and individuals can win prizes for logging bike rides, especially rides to and from work. The focus is on mode shift, and extra points are awarded to new riders and to participants that encourage others to start riding.
Commuter Awards: The Council’s Clean Air Commute Awards highlight the efforts of commuters and employers in Philadelphia that go above and beyond to commute sustainably. Each year we award both employees and employers who go the extra mile to reduce single-occupancy car trips.
Bike Racks: The Council helps businesses to create better bike infrastructure for employees and patrons, including by installing bike racks. Secure bicycle parking encourages new commuters, customers, and visitors to leave behind their cars and ride bicycles for transportation.
Pay-Per-Mile Insurance: Simply put, the best way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transportation is to drive less. The Council recognizes that giving up driving 100% is not possible for everyone, but pay-per-mile (PPM) insurance offers an effective incentive to drive as little as possible. With PPM, people are rewarded for driving minimally with inexpensive insurance, and given economic encouragement to limit their driving as much as possible.
Alternative Work Schedules: The Council works with employers to implement flexible work schedules that allow for teleworking, as well as variable stop and start times to reduce congestion during peak commuting times.
Email tmarkland@cleanair.org for help designing and advocating for sustainable commuting programs in your workplace.
