Media_Archives_Smart Commute 404-7

Tess Kalinowski
Transportation Reporter - tORONTO STAR

As commuters go, Rebekah McGurran is riding the trends.
She's among the growing number of Torontonians who commute to work in the suburbs, carpooling in an energy-efficient Smart car.
New census data released yesterday shows more Toronto-area commuters like McGurran are starting to shun a solitary drive in favour of carpooling, transit, walking and biking. More of us are travelling as passengers in cars – 7.5 per cent, up from 6.27 per cent – while only 63.6 per cent of commuters reported driving cars, down about 2 percentage points from 2001.
But the Statistics Canada numbers show only about a 1 per cent increase in transit use in many municipalities bordering Toronto.
That's in keeping with the national average. But across the much larger Toronto census metropolitan area, where 71.1 per cent of commuters drive to work, transit use declined very slightly in 2006, by less than half of 1 per cent.
One of the messages of the census, said Rob MacIsaac, chair of Metrolinx, the Toronto region's transportation planning agency, is that, "We need to invest more in public transit because people are being forced to use their cars because they simply don't have the choice."
McGurran, 32, who commutes from the Danforth area to her job as an economic developer for the City of Vaughan, tried the transit option – it was a gruelling four-hour round-trip commute. She signed up instead with carpoolzone.ca (a carpool matching website). Now, carpool lanes on the 404 save her "half an hour a day," she said.

(Carpoolzone.com has about 5,500 registered users with about 300 more signing on each week.)

GETTING TO THE OFFICE THE GREEN WAY

February 29, 2008 at 5:19 PM EST - RANDI CHAPNIK MYERS Globe and Mail Update

The costs of the daily commute to work can be a killer: rising gas prices, expensive parking, car insurance, public transit payments, not to mention the stresses of getting there, and the environmental toll from air pollution.

To help employees breathe easier, a growing number of companies are offering transportation perks, ranging from subsidized transit passes to preferential treatment for cyclists or carpoolers to free parking, even taxi chits for workday emergencies.

By doing so, companies are not only helping to reduce traffic congestion, parking problems and greenhouse gas emissions. Showing concern for the environment and concern for their employees' welfare is also a way to boost their attractiveness as employers.

“If employees can make it to work on time and less stressed, while saving money, they're much more likely to arrive smiling,” says George Flint, a manager at Smart Commute 404-7, an organization in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton areas that shows businesses how to get employees out of their cars.

Smiling employees are happier employees, who will be absent less, more productive and stick around longer.

Hitch a ride

Encouraging staff to carpool is a way to ease the pain of the commute, Mr. Flint says. When Smart Commute sent surveys to local employees, asking why they don't team up to drive to work, the same answer kept coming back.

“They had no idea where to find people who live in their area,” Mr. Flint says.

So Smart Commute set up an online ride-sharing program at www.carpoolzone.ca. It's now among many free online carpool sites across the country.

Ryan Lanyon, team leader of Smart Commute at Metrolinx, Greater Toronto's transportation authority, notes that the site now has 5,500 registered users. To date, almost 16,000 carpoolers have used the site.

Some companies, like Toronto-based Nortel Networks Corp., have set up their own internal ridesharing programs.

Lina Crossin, a recruitment specialist at Vancity in Vancouver, cycles 5.3 kilometres to and from work each day

Sharing a ride often brings added bonuses, like special parking privileges. Of the 6,000 parking spots at Nortel's Ottawa office, only 340 are underground and heated. “Those plush spots aren't reserved for CEOs,” says Sharon Lewinson, program manager of Nortel's GreenCommute program. They're earmarked for vehicles with a carpool decal, she says.

Hop on the bus

More companies are also helping out with the costs of public transit, resulting in savings for employees of up to 50 per cent, Mr. Lanyon says.

To further encourage bus use, Vancouver City Savings Credit Union's head office was built over Vancouver's Sky Train system. As a result, 75 per cent of staff in that building take public transit, says Amanda Pitre-Hayes, manager of Vancity's environmental programs.

Other companies keep employees using public transit out of the cold. “At Nortel's Toronto headquarters, we have free private shuttle buses running employees back and forth to the subway and Go Train station,” Ms. Lewinson says, adding that, in Ottawa, buses drive into the office complex, where employees wait in a heated shelter.

On your feet

Still more employees are using their own foot power – by bicycling, roller-blading and walking to work.

And employers like Vancity and Nortel are pedal-pushing by offering amenities such as secure bike racks and storage areas, as well as change rooms and shower facilities.

To help make biking part of the work culture, Nortel has organized a bicycle-users club, where members meet to discuss their biking experiences and trade the best routes into work, Ms. Lewinson says.

What if an employee without four wheels is faced with a midday emergency, or needs to get to an offsite meeting?

“We don't want anyone who chooses to walk or ride to work to feel stranded,” Ms. Pitre-Hayes says. So in an emergency, the company covers the cab ride.

Vancity also keeps a couple of smart cars and high-end cruiser bikes for employee use.

Enjoying the ride

Lina Crossin, a recruitment specialist at Vancity, feels valued at a company that appreciates her choice to cycle 5.3 kilometres to and from work each day. “I arrive at the office full of energy and I get home leaving the stress behind,” she says. “When I'm riding the elevator in my bike gear, no one looks at me sideways. I'm still viewed as a professional.”

Ms. Crossin says her employer's pro-cycling policies are one big reason she loves working there. “The fact that it's a bike-friendly place makes my job so much more attractive.”

Also enjoying his daily commute is Robert Grimwood, a project engineer at MMM Group Ltd., an engineering consulting firm based in Thornhill, Ont.

Mr. Grimwood used to fight the traffic alone, until a few years ago when he joined his company's annual week-long commuter challenge event.

After a week of cycling, busing and carpooling, he was back in his car when he noticed a colleague standing at a bus stop he passed every day. So he offered him a regular ride; he's since added a second occupant to his carpool.

Not only is Mr. Grimwood proud to help out his car-less colleagues and pitch in for the environment, he also enjoys the car-ride chit-chat and the time saved by using multiperson lanes.

Jennifer Moen, central administration officer at Vancity, appreciates the difference her transit pass has made in her commute from Surrey to Vancouver. “It's easier to get to work, I save money each month, and there's no more fumbling for change,” she says, and she's reducing her carbon footprint at the same time.

Does it work?

Since the Smart Commute program kicked off in 2005, more than 80 employers (with 260,000 employees) have signed on, including the City of Toronto, IBM Canada Ltd., DuPont Canada Inc., ING Direct, Maple Lodge Farms Ltd., the Canadian Automobile Association, and MMM Group.

In a survey of 1,000 commuters, Smart Commute found that about 50 per cent are currently using “sustainable modes of transportation” – anything other than the solo-occupant car commute, Mr. Lanyon says.

From one year to the next, there is a 5-per-cent jump in carpool use among those commuters, he adds.

Ms. Pitre-Hayes says that 51 per cent of Vancity's almost 2,600 workers have traded their own wheels for other forms of transportation.

And the planet is seeing the payoff: Since its 2005 launch, Smart Commute's program has saved nearly 2.6 million trips by lone drivers, resulting in 20,000 fewer cars on local roads and highways, Mr. Flint calculates. It has also helped commuters cut their greenhouse gas emissions by more than 37,400 tonnes, he adds. “That's enough to fill the Rogers Centre [in Toronto] almost ten times.”

Special to The Globe and Mail

TORONTO, Dec. 7 /CNW/ -
The Smart Commute program, known for its online carpooling website and other commuter services, joined Metrolinx, January 1, 2008.

"Smart Commute is a natural fit," said Rob MacIsaac, Chair of Metrolinx. "Working with local employers to improve commuter options like carpooling and transit is just one of the ways that Metrolinx and Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA) municipalities help make our region's transportation system greener and more sustainable."

Smart Commute, which works with companies to help make it easier for employees to get to work, runs commuter services like the Carpool Zone. Local Smart Commute offices operate in each of Hamilton, Halton, Mississauga, Brampton-Caledon, Northeast Toronto, North Toronto and Vaughan, Markham and Richmond Hill (404-7), Newmarket and Aurora (Central York), and Durham.

"The Government of Canada is pleased to have funded the successful start-up of Smart Commute," said the Honourable Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities. "Smart Commute keeps commuter vehicles off roadways, helps in the reduction of air pollution and greenhouse gases, and protects the health of Canadians and the environment. I congratulate Metrolinx for partnering with local municipalities to continue the program and integrate it with the broader transportation system."

The announcement was made by the federal Minister at a Toronto Board of Trade breakfast meeting.

- Smart Commute has helped commuters reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by more than 27,400 tonnes since 2004 - enough to fill the Rogers Centre almost six times.

- Nearly 2.6 million trips by lone drivers were saved through Smart Commute, resulting in 14,000 fewer cars on local roads and highways every day.

- Smart Commute 404-7 was honoured in 2007 to win the Sustainable Urban Transportation Award from the Transportation Association of Canada.

- More than 80 employers with 260,000 employees have signed on to the Smart Commute program including IBM Canada, DuPont Canada, ING Direct Canada, Enbridge Gas Distribution, Hamilton Health Sciences and the Canadian Automobile Association.

- Members of the public can also access services like the Carpool Zone through the various Smart Commute websites and through the Metrolinx web portal at www.metrolinx.com.

Metrolinx was created by the Government of Ontario to provide seamless, coordinated transportation links throughout the metropolitan region encompassing all of the City of Toronto, the four surrounding regional municipalities (Durham, Halton, Peel and York), and the City of Hamilton. Metrolinx is an agency of the Government of Ontario, operating within the legislative framework of the Greater Toronto Transportation Authority Act, 2006 and the provincial Growth Plan.

For further information:
Fran Agnew, Executive Assistant to the Metrolinx Chair, (416) 874-5902;
Jacquie Menezes, Senior Associate of Public Affairs and Media, (416) 874-5923

The GTTA is Now Metrolinx
December 3rd, 2007 - Spacing Toronto
The Greater Toronto Transportation Authority (or GTTA) has a new marketing name and a new website. The new name is Metrolinx. The name and website launched December 4, 2007. The news release for the launch states that the GTTA will also release a “a discussion paper on transportation trends and outlooks” as well as public consultations on regional transit planning.

The GTTA (now Metrolinx) has begun work, including the identification of “quick-win” projects for regional transit, such as signal upgrades for the Yonge-University-Spadina subway, GO Transit rail corridor improvements, and bus services in the suburban 905 municipalities. It has also developed the Presto card, which so far will not offer many of the potential benefits of a transit Smart Card or a new fare structure. Regional transit planning and coordination is necessary for a growing urban region with increasing congestion and little yet in the way of major infrastructure improvments.