Cars and Parking
Encourage Employees to Carpool
What Is It?
Employers can encourage carpooling or vanpooling through subsidies, resources that enable easy ridesharing, and preferential parking. Apps or a company intranet can make it easier for employees who live near one another to connect. Subsidies and preferential parking (any dedicated on- or off-street parking spaces allocated to vehicles used for carpooling--and often located ina superior location such as near the workplace entrance, under shelter, etc.) can incentivize employees to choose carpooling as opposed to driving alone.
Benefits
Carpools reduce an organization’s environmental impact because they decrease the number of single occupancy vehicles commuting to a given workplace. Additionally, this practice could lead to cost-savings for the business because the need for additional parking will decrease as the number of carpooling vehicles increases.
Regulatory Impacts and Requirements
Section 7.16 of the 310 CMR 7.00: Air Pollution Control Regulations (the Massachusetts Rideshare Regulation) requires the following organizations to develop plans and set goals for reducing commuter drive-alone trips by 25%:
- Businesses with 1,000 or more applicable commuters
- Educational institutions with 1,000 or more applicable commuters
- Businesses with 250 or more applicable commuters that are also subject to the Massachusetts Air Operating Permit Program (310 CMR 7.00, Appendix C)
(MassDEP)
Financing Options, Incentives, and Rebates
- Potential for Green Building Credits from the BRA toward achieving a LEED Certifiable project
- ABC TMA Carpool Subsidy Program
- ABC TMA Vanpool Subsidy Program
News
- “'We've become good friends': carpooling eases drudgery of commuting,” The Guardian, April 26, 2017
- “On-demand carpooling would slash need for taxis, MIT study says,” The Boston Globe, January 23, 2017
- “How companies take the headache out of commuting,” The Boston Globe, November 17, 2016
- “Carpool startup ride launches, with different plan in mind,” CNET, April 7, 2015
RESOURCES
- Zimride – Ride share matching program
- Massachusetts Ride Share Program
- Boston University Carpooling and Vanpooling – Boston example
- Harvard Low Emissions Vehicle Parking – Boston example
- A Better City TMA
