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Be sure to get in on the manyexciting rideshare events coming upthis year. From workshops tocampaigns to share-the-ride days,there are plenty of chances for you tohelp people find alternatives to drivingalone. Full story
Introducing 511, a "one stop shop" forcommuters that offers state-of-the-artreal-time traffic, incident and roadclosure information; carpool matching;bus, rail and Metrolink routing; Park &Ride lot and carpool lane maps andmore. Full story
• ACT Southern Californiachapter membershipmeeting
• Network meetings
More Events
How ridesharing can helpemployees keep their New Year’sresolutions. Full story
RideGuide commute planners– how to get customized carpool,vanpool and other rideshareinformation for your employees.
Get news geared to commutersthat you can forward toemployees or incorporate intoyour own rideshare newsletter.
• Caltrans opens carpool lane on the 405Freeway
• Bike-transit facilities coming to Covina andClaremont
• Bus line now connects South Bay and SanGabriel Valley
• OC commuters and employers take homerideshare awards
Be sure to get in on the many exciting rideshare events coming up this year.From workshops to campaigns to national share-the-ride holidays, there areplenty of chances for you to help people find alternatives to driving alone.Here, we give you a heads-up on some of the hot happenings for 2010.
JANUARY Jan. 10-14—Transportation ResearchBoard 89th Annual Meeting, WashingtonDC, reviewing trends in transportation,202.334.2934, trb.orgJan. 12—Metro rideshare workshop,contact [email protected] Jan. 21—Association for Commuter Transportation (ACT)Southern California chapter membership meeting, act-southernca.org, [email protected]
FEBRUARY Feb. 9—Inland Empire Commuter Services (IECS)rideshare marketing certificate class for Riverside, SanBernardino and Coachella employers, 1.866.IECS4HELPFeb. 28-March 6—Telecommuter Appreciation Week,sponsored by the American Telecommuting Association,1.800.ATA4YOU, yourata.com
MARCH March 18—ACT Bike to Work event and marketingcertificate class, act-southernca.org,[email protected]
APRIL Earthquake Preparedness Month, a good time to getyour employees ready for commuting in crisis conditions;for details, check out the Governor's Office of EmergencyServices at oes.ca.gov or your local Red Cross officeNational Poetry Month, often celebrated with poetryreadings on buses, trains and/or at stations, contact yourlocal transit providerApril 22—the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, earthday.net April 20— Metro rideshare marketing workshop, [email protected] in April:• Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA)marketing class, [email protected]
MAY Clean Air Month, sponsored by the American LungAssociation, 1.800.LUNG.USA, californialung.orgMay 11—IECS rideshare marketing certificate class forRiverside, San Bernardino and Coachella employers,1.866.IECS4HELPMay 13—Bike to Work Day, sponsored by the CaliforniaBicycle Coalition and local agencies and part of BikeCommute Week May 10-14, 1.800.679.BIKE,californiabikecommute.comMay 16-22—National Transportation Week, celebratingcareers in transportation, 703.235.0519, ntweek.org
May 19—Employee Health and FitnessDay, extolling the health benefits ofwalking or biking to work,317.237.5630, physicalfitness.org
JUNE June 22—ACT Southern Californiachapter professional development meeting, act-southernca.org, [email protected]
JULY July 22—ACT transportation fair, act-southernca.org,[email protected]
AUGUST Aug. 17— Metro rideshare workshop and Rideshare Weekkickoff, contact [email protected]. 29-Sept. 1—ACT International Conference, PalmSprings, actweb.org
SEPTEMBER Sept. 16—ACT Swap & Share, act-southernca.org,[email protected]. 22—International Car Free Day, 22september.orgAlso in September:• OCTA marketing workshop and Rideshare Week kickoff,[email protected]• IECS rideshare marketing workshop and Rideshare Weekkickoff, 1.866.IECS4HELP
OCTOBER Oct. 4-8—California Rideshare Week, astatewide campaign that promotesalternatives to driving alone; contact yourlocal rideshare agencyOct 26—Metro rideshare marketing workshop, [email protected]
NOVEMBER-DECEMBER Nov. 4—ETC Boot Camp and marketing certificate class,act-southernca.org, [email protected] and canned food "drives" roll into gear, including:• Antelope Valley "Stuff a Bus," 661.945.9445, avta.com• Metrolink Toy Express, 1.800.371.LINK,metrolinktrains.com• Omnitrans Spark of Love Toy Drive, omnitrans.org• Norwalk Transit "Stuff a Bus," 562.929.5533, ci.norwalk.ca.us
Introducing 511, a new service developed by Southern California’s countytransportation agencies and soon to be available throughout the region. 511is a "one stop shop" for commuters and offers state-of-the-art real -timetraffic, incident and road closure information; carpool matching; bus, railand Metrolink routing; Park & Ride lot and carpool lane maps and more. In the Inland Empire, the ie511.org web site is up and running. Forphone assistance, call 511 within the Inland Empire (or 1.877MYIE511outside the region or if your phone service is from a cable provider)—theservice for cell phones is now operating and landlines will be switched overwithin the next two months. Los Angeles, Orange and Ventura County travelers can visit go511.comor simply call 511 for traffic, public transit and commuter servicesinformation. Outside of these counties, travelers can call 1.877.22.GO511. “The benefit of 511 is that it can be easily used for both web and phoneapplications, giving people help when they need it in the way that they needit—whether they’re making long-term commute plans or are currently stuckin traffic and just looking for an alternative route,” says Robert Yates with Riverside County Transportation Commission,which maintains the site for the Inland Empire. Want to know more about 511? Here, we answer some of the frequently asked questions:
Why 511? 511 is a nationally-designated number for traffic information, so by tapping into it here, Southern California becomespart of a much larger network. Ultimately, the idea is that people will know to go to 511 for transportation help whereverthey may be traveling in the US.
How does it work? You can access information in two ways:1) Go to a 511 web site • Inland Empire, ie511.org • Los Angeles, Orange and Ventura Counties, go511.com2) Call 511 from a cell phone or landline for operator or automatedassistance.
Will 511 replace CommuteSmart.info and 1.800.COMMUTE? CommuteSmart.info and 1.800.COMMUTE will still be going strong andsupported by Southern California’s transportation agencies for as long asthey need to be. Eventually, the goal is for all rideshare services to switchover to 511. Since 511 here is being developed by the same agencies thatare behind CommuteSmart.info and 1.800.COMMUTE, the sites can beeasily linked and cross-promoted during the transition phase to make itseamless for commuters.
When will 511 service be fully functioning in Southern California? Look for updates in future issues of CommuteSmart News.
• Caltrans opens carpool lane on the 405 Freeway Good news for ridesharers: Caltrans recently opened a new carpoollane on the San Diego Freeway (I-405) between the Santa Monica Freeway(I-10) and the Marina Freeway (SR-90). When joined to the carpool lanenow under construction between I-10 and the Ventura Freeway (US 101)–expected to be complete in 2013—there will be a continuous carpool laneon I-405 in both directions throughout Los Angeles County. For details,go to dot.ca.gov/dist07.
• Bike-transit facilities coming to Covina and Claremont Commuters that want to mix transit with bicycling to work will soon have twonew resources: bike-transit centers opening in Covina and Claremont at Metrolinkstations. Called Bikestations (affiliated with Bikestation in Long Beach), each willfeature high-tech bike parking facilities that safely and securely store bicycles."These Bikestations overcome a top concern people have that keep them fromusing their bikes: theft," says Andrea White-Kjoss with Mobis/Bikestation.Bikestation Claremont will also include other bike-friendly amenities like air pumps,water fountains, restroom, changing room, repair stand and access to bike rentalsand basic supplies for purchase. Bikestation Covina will open this month, and theClaremont facility is currently under construction to open within months. For moreinformation, go to bikestation.com.
•Bus line now connects South Bay and San Gabriel Valley Metro has launched a new bus service—the Silver Line—that connects the South Bayand San Gabriel Valley via downtown Los Angeles. Operating daily and every five to15 minutes during weekday rush hours, the Silver Line travels via carpool lanes on theSanta Monica (10) and Harbor (110) freeways. For more information, go to metro.net.
• OC commuters and employers take home rideshareawards Congratulations to the employers and commuters that took homeawards from Orange County Transportation Authority’s recent Sharethe Ride Challenge Awards. Awards went to UC Irvine, St. John's Knitsand the City of Anaheim for the highest percentage of employeesparticipating in Rideshare Week. "You are on the front line of trying toget people out of their cars and to encourage them to try transit,carpool, bike or walk to work," said OCTA CEO Will Kempton (left),pictured here with Antoinette Saenz, UCI; Lolly Garcia, City ofAnaheim; Jill Ayuso and Susana Baeza, St. John Knits; Mike Davis,UCI and Ellen Burton, OCTA.
We asked ETCs, "What do youresolve to do differently withyour rideshare program in
2010?""Have more information boothsavailable for team members to pickup brochures."—Babette Ray, Hilton LAX
"Go completely paperless to helpsave the environment - every littlebit counts!"—Kathleen Marron, Cal StateUniversity, San Bernardino
"Since we were able to recruit fournew carpoolers during the OctoberRideshare Week, we plan to haveour own Rideshare Week once aquarter to increase employees’awareness."—Vivian Lau, Avery Dennison Corp.
"Streamline the transit renewalprocess, focus on starting two newvanpool groups...and pray for nomajor layoffs."—Rosemarie Bennett, RaytheonCommuter Services
Wouldn’t it be great if all your employeesmade New Year’s resolutions to ridesharemore? While that isn’t likely to happen, there issome good news that Jan. 1 can bring: ridesharing helps people keep the resolutionsthat they do make. USA.gov, the USgovernment’s official web portal, released a listof the 12 most common resolutions. Here, wetake a look at some of them, and how you canpromote ridesharing at the work site to helpkeep employees on track with their goals:
"Lose weight (#1)""Get fit (#5)" The #1 and fifth most popular resolutionsmay at first glance seem to have little to dowith ridesharing, but giving up driving alonecan do wonders for a person's effort to get fit.Just walking to a local bus or rail stop—or evenbetween transfers—can add up towardreaching the 10,000 steps per day that manyfitness experts recommend. Of course, peoplewho walk or bicycle all the way to work burn awhole lot more calories than those just sittingbehind the wheel of a car. Another way ridesharing can contribute tofitness: The time people save by taking thecarpool lane can mean they can squeeze in aworkout when they get home...and the money they save on gas means theymay just be able to afford that gym membership. "Manage debt (#2)""Save money (#3)"
It’s no surprise that finances are high onpeoples' resolutions list this year. A recentreport by the American PublicTransportation Association showed that people that ride transit save more than$9,000 a year in auto expenses. People who carpool regularly to work with just oneother person can cut their commuting gas costs in half, plus save on car maintenanceand wear and tear.
"Reduce stress overall (#9)""Reduce stress at work (#10)" Studies show that carpooling or vanpooling can reduce the stress of the commute byallowing workers to occasionally leave the driving to someone else. Your employeeswill arrive to work rested and ready to start the day...and less likely to start thinkingabout most common resolution #4: "get a better job."
To see the full resolution list, go to usa.gov; for help with your rideshare program, contact the rideshare representativein your county.
COMMUTESMART NEWSEditor/Writer: Jill SmolinskiArt Director: Harlan West
For subscription informationor to change yourCOMMUTESMART NEWSe-mail address, contact yourrepresentative at therideshare office nearest you.
Metro Commute ServicesOne Gateway PlazaMS 99-19-05Los Angeles, CA 90012-2952Business: 213.922.2811
OCTA’s Commuter Solutions550 S. Main St.,Orange, CA 92868Mailing address:PO Box 14184Orange, CA 92863Business: 714.560.5358
Ventura CountyTransportation Commission950 County Square Dr.,Ste. 207,Ventura, CA 93003Business: 805.642.1591,ext. 119
Inland EmpireCommuter ServicesOffice location:7355 Magnolia Ave.Riverside, CA 92504Mailing address:PO Box 51540Riverside, CA 92517-2540Business: 1.866.IECS4HELP(1.866.432.7443)
Commuter Information1.800.COMMUTE (266.6883)commutesmart.info
HWDS1647-12/09
EVENTSMetro rideshare workshop is Jan. 12,9 a.m.- noon at Metro offices indowntown Los Angeles; [email protected].
Association for CommuterTransportation (ACT) SouthernCalifornia chapter membershipmeeting is Jan. 21 in Anaheim; for moreinformation, go to act-southernca.org orcontact [email protected]
NETWORK MEETINGSCoachella Valley ETC Network meetsbi-annually; call 1.866.IECS4HELP.Glendale TMA meets regularly;call 818.543.7641.Orange County Network meetsregularly; call 714.560.5358 or [email protected] TMA meets every othermonth; call John Miranda at818.354.7433.Riverside County ETC Network meetstri-annually; call 1.866.IECS4HELP.San Bernardino County ETC Networkmeets tri-annually; call 1.866.IECS4HELP.
Santa Monica ETC Network meetsregularly; call 310.458.8956.South Bay/Westside TMA meets monthly;contact Christina Corrales at 310.642.0066,email [email protected] Transportation Network meetsregularly; call Kim Fuentes at310.784.7902.Warner Center TMO meets monthly;call 818.716.5520.
TRAININGMetro Commute Services upcomingbriefings—where Los Angeles areaemployers can learn about thetransportation survey process and servicesMetro has to offer—are Feb. 10 from 1-3p.m. and March 10 from 9:30-11:30 a.m.For more information or to reserve a space,email [email protected].
South Coast Air Quality ManagementDistrict (AQMD) offers one-day ETCtraining for $154.81. Upcoming sessions areJan. 13 and Feb. 4 at AQMD offices inDiamond Bar, Jan. 27 in Pasadena, Feb. 10in Los Angeles and Feb. 24 in Anaheim.Contact the AQMD's training program [email protected] or visit the AQMD ataqmd.gov
