WHAT EMPLOYERS CAN DO

Appoint an Employee Transportation Coordinator:
Empower him or her to develop innovative trip reduction programs for your employees. The Employee Transportation Coordinator (ETC) can take the lead in investigating the costs and benefits of alternative trip reduction programs, interviewing company employees and key executives to determine the viability of various options and educating other employees about specific pollution-reduction methods the company has chosen to implement. The ETC may also work with local transit agencies and the North Texas Clean Air Coalition to make sure the company receives public recognition for its pollution-reduction initiatives and may serve as a liaison with key company executives to keep them informed of the latest news about our region’s efforts to improve air quality.

Organize Employee Rideshare Options:
Meet with DART or the T to determine which trip reduction strategies provide the best fit for your company and your employees. Alternatives include:

• Providing transit passes to your employees through DART or the T. These agencies can provide detailed information about the costs, available discounts and tax benefits which may apply to various transit pass alternatives. Many insurance companies also offer discounts on premiums for transit commuters.
  
• Establishing a company vanpool program. A vanpool typically consists of seven to 15 people sharing a van, generally to the same place of employment. Vanpool commuting distances begin at 15 miles but more frequently operate at much greater distances. Driving is done by one or more of the vanpool participants. Operating costs are covered by monthly fares paid by the riders, but may also be subsidized by the employer. The driver usually rides free. With coordination assistance from DART or the T, establishing a vanpool program is an easy way your company can have a big impact on air pollution in North Texas.
  
• Providing carpool matching assistance for your employees. A carpool consists of two to five commuters sharing an employee-owned automobile to and from work. One-way commuting distances vary substantially. One person can do all the driving and be reimbursed by the riders. More commonly, driving responsibilities are shared, so money need not change hands. Both DART and the T utilize a region-wide computer system that matches commuters with similar trip origins, destinations and compatible work schedules to assist in the formation of carpools and vanpools.

For information about how your company can organize carpool, vanpool and mass transit options for your employees:

• In the Dallas area call DART at 214/747-RIDE or visit DART's website at www.dart.org.
  
• In Fort Worth call The T at 817/336-RIDE or visit The T's website at www.the-t.com
• In the Denton area call Denton County Transportation Authority at 972/221-4600 or visit DCTA's website at www.dcta.net.
  

Offer Employees Incentives to Participate in Trip Reduction Programs Such As:

• Preferred or subsidized parking for carpool and vanpool vehicles
  
• Employee comp time for employees who participate in ridesharing programs
  
• A guaranteed ride home for employees who rideshare in case of emergencies or unscheduled overtime
  
• Employer-owned vehicles for mid-day business trips
  
• A mid-day shuttle service to shopping/dining areas near your work site
  
• Bus route and schedule information to facilitate use of mass transit options
  
• Discounts or free drinks at on-site cafeterias to discourage driving at lunch
  
• Prizes, drawings or contests for employees who participate in trip reduction programs
  

Develop a Telecommuting Program:
Allow some employees to work at home on some days. While providing this option for every employee may not make sense for your company, many jobs in sales, marketing, technology, finance, legal or customer service departments can be performed at home with little difficulty. Telecommuting programs are most successful when managers evolve from a traditional clock management mindset to one of results management. For the program to succeed, managers will also need to set specific objectives for telecommuters and clearly identify how performance and work progress will be measured. Since many employees have expressed a preference for telecommuting alternatives, this program may produce additional benefits to the employer in terms of improved employee recruitment and retention, increased employee satisfaction and enhanced worker productivity.

Develop a Flexible Work Schedule Program:
Enable employees to drive less during peak traffic conditions. Options include:

• A compressed work week in which employees may work a regular forty-hour week in just four days or two forty-hour weeks in just nine days.
  
• Flextime gives employees the option of changing their starting and ending times each workday. Employers often establish a core period of selected hours during the workday in which all employees should be present.
  
• A staggered work hours program distributes employees’ starting and ending times by 15-minute to two-hour ranges. The main purpose of a staggered work hour program is to shift some employees out of the peak commuting period in order to relieve traffic congestion.

Consider Alternative Meeting Times or Methods:
Schedule external meetings after 10:00 a.m. or hold meetings by conference call during ozone season, May 1 - October 31. Since harmful ozone in the lower atmosphere is formed when pollutants bake in sunshine and hot temperatures, automobile emissions which occur after 10:00 a.m. are less likely to result in high levels of ozone formation. Travel after 10:00 a.m. is also less likely to cause traffic congestion, another factor which exacerbates ozone pollution.

Use Your Company’s Fleet Vehicles Wisely to Help Reduce Pollution-Causing Emissions:

• Perform regular maintenance to keep vehicles in top condition.
  
• Make sure that fleet vehicles are refueled at night or postpone refueling until after 6:00 p.m.
  
• Convert fleet vehicles to natural gas or another alternative fuel.
  
• Use fleet vehicles to arrange carpools to lunch and meetings.

Delay Using Outdoor Equipment:
Postpone all activities using mowers, tractors, backhoes, bulldozers and other two-cycle engines until after 10:00 a.m. during May 1 - October 31.

Post Clean Air Materials:
Display information in public areas of your worksite, in employee break areas, in employee cafeterias, on your company website and through electronic mail communications to help educate employees and customers about ways they can help to reduce air pollution.

Encourage Cycling:
Provide showers and bicycle parking facilities to encourage cycling to work. Using a bicycle for short, under five-mile trips eliminates the most polluting motorized trips while also providing physical and economic benefits.

Develop Ozone Season Policies:
Businesses can also help by developing Air Pollution Watch day or Ozone Season policies and encouraging employees to follow them. These may include permitting employees to work flexible hours or to telecommute, scheduling off-site meetings after 10:00 a.m., and providing incentives which encourage employees to rideshare or to eat lunch on-site. Companies can also aid the clean air effort by notifying employees when the following day is an Air Pollution Watch day. For help in developing a company Ozone Season policy contact Shannon Morris at 972/621-0400.

Notify Employees of Air Pollution Watch Days:
You can encourage your employees to reduce pollution on Air Pollution Watch days by providing notices to employees on the afternoon before each Air Pollution Watch day is predicted. Simply designate a staff member to receive the e-mail Air Pollution Watch day notices by registering online at join-ozone-dfw@listserv.tceq.state.tx.us Make sure to leave both the subject line and the message area blank as this is an automated registration system.

Check Out Possible Tax Incentives:
Your company may be entitled to tax benefits for subsidizing certain transportation programs for your employees. Employers are permitted to offer employees a choice between receiving “qualified transportation fringes” which include transit, vanpool or qualified parking benefits, or receiving current or future compensation. (Internal Revenue Code Section 132 (f) (4) made by the Title IX, section 910 of TEA-21) Private employers, non-profit organizations and public agencies can provide the transit benefit to employees as follows:

• Tax Free Benefit - Employers may subsidize transit or vanpool fares up to $65 a month in addition to current compensation. Employees receive the benefit tax free and employers get a full tax deduction and do not pay any payroll taxes or other costs on the amount provided.
  
• Pre-Tax Benefit - Employees can use up to $65 a month, $780 a year, of their gross income before taxes to pay for transit or vanpool fares. Thus, an employee who used the maximum $780, can save over $200 a year in taxes. Employers save on payroll taxes and other costs that they would normally pay on the amount set aside by their employees, usually in the range of a 10 percent savings. Since pre-tax use of employee’s salary is not subject to cafeteria-type use and plan restrictions, this type of program is very easy to set up and administer.
  
• Share the Fare - Employers may also combine options 1 and 2 above. For example, an employer may provide a tax free benefit of $30 a month and let the employee use $35 of pre-tax salary to pay for the remaining portion of the tax free amount. In such a case, the employer obtains a tax deduction and exemption from avoiding payroll taxes for the amount set aside by the employee. The latter helps offset the cost of the tax free benefit.
  
• How It Works - the commuter benefit is usually given in the form of a monthly, annual or single bus/rail pass, and/or monthly vanpool subsidy. The amount of the subsidy is reported on IRS form 1120-U.S. Corporation Income Tax Return, line 25, Employee Benefit Programs.

For more information about potential tax incentives for your company visit www.epa.gov/otaq/transp.htm and click on Commuter Choice.

Become a Financial Sponsor:
If your company would like to become a financial sponsor of clean air activities in this region contact Shannon Morris at 972/621-0400.

Make Sure Your Company is Working to Reduce its Own Emissions:

• Many local businesses are regulated by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) in order to limit their emissions of potentially harmful air pollutants. If you need advice about your own company's environmental status, contact TCEQ's North Texas Environmental Assistance Program at 214/860-5821.
  
• If you are interested in trading or buying emissions credits visit the Dallas/Fort Worth Area Emissions Reduction Credit Organization at www.dfwcleanair.com/actions/aerco1.html.
  
• To find out what utility companies in the area are doing to reduce their pollution emissions visit www.txu.com.