Travel Efficiency Strategies:
Employer-Based Incentives and
Travel Demand Management
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Air quality in the United States lias improved over the years as
^ emission control technologies have reduced emissions from all
pollution sectors. Yet the transportation sector continues to be a major
source of criteria pollutant and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across
the country. While emissions per mile traveled have decreased, growth
in travel activity has offset some of those reductions and presents a
challenge to achieving and maintaining air quality and protecting public
health.1 Investing in and implementing programs that reduce travel
activity can help to achieve state and local air quality and climate goals,
while creating a more accessible and sustainable transportation system.
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EPA developed the Travel Efficiency Assessment Method (TEAM) to quantify the potential
emission reduction benefits of TE strategies.2
This document provides an overview of Travel Demand Management (TDM) strategies and
implementation approaches.
Employer-Based Incentives and TDM Strategies
TDM strategies reduce the need for travel and shift travel away from single-occupancy vehicles,
particularly for the work commute. Common commuter-focused strategies include employer-
based incentives for ridesharing, walking, cycling, or using transit and vanpools; opportunities for
telecommuting; and flexible work hours. These strategies impact emissions both by directly reducing
VMT from single-occupancy vehicles (SOVs) and by reducing congestion during peak travel times.
These strategies may be implemented either by individual employers or at a regionwide scale;
some jurisdictions require all employers of a certain size to provide commuter benefits to
their employees.3 Many employer-based programs incentivize use of existing transportation
infrastructure—such as public transit or bicycle lanes. Where such infrastructure is already present,
TDM strategies can increase their use. Furthermore, EPA's efforts to date have demonstrated
that a comprehensive combination of these strategies has the potential to substantially reduce
transportation-related emissions.4
In addition to reducing VMT and vehicle emissions,
employer-based incentives offer several co-benefits for
employers, employees, and the broader community.
These benefits may include:5'®
• Reduced congestion during peak travel hours;
• For employees, reduced commuting costs and
improved workplace satisfaction due to lower
commute stressors and increased flexibility;
• For employers, enhanced employee
recruitment and retention, expanded labor
pool (e.g., remote workers from a broader
geographic area, individuals without access to private vehicles), and savings on taxes and
costs of providing office space, and/or employee parking; and
For more information on the Travel Efficiency Assessment Method (TEAM), user guide, and 12 cases studies in
partnership with agencies from across the country, please visit EPA's Travel Efficiency website (https://www.epa.gov/
state-and-locai-transportation/estimating-emission-reductions-travel-efficiency-strategies).
3 For more information on jurisdictions that require commuter benefits, see the Association for Commuter Transpor-
tation webpage (https://www.actweb.org/commuter-benefits).
4 For more information, see EPA's Travel Efficiency website (https://www.epa.gov/state-and-local-transportation/
estimating-emission-reductions-travel-efficiency-strategies).
5 The Commuter Choice Program: A Way to Save Money and Help the Environment,, EPA-420-F-98-029, December
1998.
0 See the North Front Range Metropolitan Planning Organization's Benefits of TDM webpage (https://nfrmpo.org/
tdm/benefits).
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• Accessible employment opportunities for people with difficulty physically commuting to a
worksite (e.g., people with disabilities and/or mobility limitations, low-income individuals
for which commuting costs are a barrier, and caretakers requiring flexible schedules).
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Implementation Approaches
The following table provides examples of how commuter-focused TDM strategies might be
implemented by employers or regional entities. By incentivizing commute options other than SOVs
or providing flexibility in work location and schedule, each strategy has the potential to directly
reduce commuters' VMT and/or reduce congestion during peak travel times.
Employer Programs Facility Improvements Monetary Incentives
Facilitate a ride match
program
Provide commuters
who use alternative
options a free
guaranteed ride
home in emergencies
through an
Emergency Ride
Home program
Directly provide
vanpool services
Partner with nearby
employers to offer
a shuttle bus to and
from nearby public
transit hubs
Sell transit passes
onsite and provide
transit information
Provide priority
parking for carpools
Provide secure bicycle
parking and changing
facilities (showers,
locker rooms) onsite
to encourage cycling
to work
Reduce parking for
single-occupancy
vehicles or increase
the price of parking
Offer employer
subsidies for
alternative modes of
travel, such as public
transit or vanpool
Provide a benefits
program that allows
employees to use pre-
tax dollars on transit
vouchers
Work Schedule
Changes
Offer full or part-time
telework/remote work
options
Offer flexible work
schedules such as
compressed work
weeks or flexible start
and end times
Implementation Example: Florida's reThinkYour Commute Program
Since 2010, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) "reThink Your Commute" program
has promoted TDM strategies in a district covering nine counties in central Florida.7 The program
directly supports commuters in accessing alternative commute options, such as through a Trip
Planner that helps commuters locate carpools or transit routes, a free Emergency Ride Home
Program (i.e., guaranteed ride home program), assistance with "first- and last-mile" connectivity (i.e.,
the distance between a traveler's start or end point and a transportation hub), and consulting with
employers on topics such as telework and transportation options. FDOT also works with companies
to set up custom commuter benefits programs. These programs may include pre-tax benefits for
transit or vanpool expenses, carpool parking programs, installing bicycle parking facilities, providing
discounted transit passes, or launching a telecommute program. Commuters who sign up with
reThink Your Commute directly can earn rewards such as discounts and gift cards by recording their
non-SOV commutes or telework days via a smartphone app that launched in July 2019.
7 See the reThinkYour Commute webpage (https://www.rethinkyourcommute.com) for more information.
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In its first ten years, the program grew from 42 employer partners and 2,300 registered commuters
in 2010 to 124 employer partners and nearly 12,000 registered commuters in 2019. FDOT
estimates that in fiscal year 2019-2020 alone, re lhink Your Commute reduced VMT by 544,295
miles and offset 241 tons of carbon dioxide emissions. Commuters saw direct benefits as well:
estimated cost savings totaled over $300,000.8
Implementation Example: Employer-Based TDM in Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN
Metro Transit, which is part of the Metropolitan Council
(the policy-making body and planning agency for the
Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area) provides TDM
resources for employers and schools to reduce SOV
commutes. One such resource is the Metropass, an
employer-based transit pass with unlimited rides. The pass
is paid pre-tax by payroll deduction, and many companies
choose to cover some of or all the cost. Metropass saves
employees money on the cost of a transit pass and enables
companies who subsidize them to receive tax credits.9
Metro Transit also offers carpool matching services,
assistance with carpool parking permits, and helps
employees lease vehicles for vanpools.10
A study conducted in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area found that in nine office buildings that
implemented TDM plans, there was a 34% to 37% reduction in peak hour traffic generated,
and a 17% to 24% reduction in peak parking demand. All nine sites offered carpool/vanpool
programs, and most sites offered telework or flexible work schedules, bicycle infrastructure (bike
racks, showers, and/or lockers), high-occupancy vehicle preferential parking, or program incentives
(free or discounted transit, cash, and/or non-money rewards). Specifically, one company provided
a cash incentive of $40 per month for employees that commute by carpooling, walking, or biking.
Most sites also used different forms of advertising and communication such as posters/kiosks,
newsletters, internet sites, and transportation coordinators to promote TDM programs.11
More Information
For more information about EPA's work on travel efficiency (including TEAM user guide, technical
documentation and detailed case studies), please visit EPA's Travel Efficiency website.
8 See statistics for the reThink Your Commute program taken from the 2019-2020 Annual Report (https://www.
rethinkyourcommUte.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/FY-19-20-Annual-Report_ACCESSIBLEIpdf).
9 For more information on Metro Transit's Metropass, Se£ the Metropass webpage (https://www.metrotransit.org/
metro-pass).
10 See the Metro Transit's services for Employers, Schools, and Organizations webpage (https://www.metrotransit.org/
for-employers-schools-organizations) for more information.
11 Spack, M., Finkelstein, J., Travel Demand Management: An analysis of the effectiveness of TDM plans in reducing
traffic and parking in the Minneapolis-St. Paul Metropolitan Area, January 2014.
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