^Commuter Solutions ETC BULLETIN An Electronic Newsletter for area Employee Transportation Coordinators
December 15, 2006
Commuter Solutions Providing Information and Resources for Smart Transportation Choices In This Issue Commuter Solutions Receives Award Keep EmX Lanes Clear LTD Holiday Taxi Program Eugene’s Ped/Bike Strategic Plan In the Spotlight Gilham Elementary Annual Route Review New Participants Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. ~ Margaret Mead Free Gas Card! Be one of the first 100 to register your carpool, or begin a new carpool, and receive a $10 Shell Card. Apply here. For more information, contact Bob Ransom, 682.6183 LINKS Carpool Registration Smart Ways to School Drive Less. Save More. www.keepusmoving.info Emergency Ride Home We encourage you to print and post these flyers and posters at your workplace to inform your employees of transportation options and regional road projects: Rising Gas Price Poster Keep Us Moving Poster Commute Cost Poster Commuter Solutions P.O. Box 7070 Eugene, OR 97401 541-682-6213 Commutersolutions@ltd.org www.commutersolutions.ltd.org Connie Bloom Williams Program Manager Marcia Maffei Employer Programs Bob Ransom ERH, Carpool/Vanpool Lisa VanWinkle Smart Ways to School Tracy Smith Administrative Assistant	Commuter Solutions Receives Statewide Award Commuter Solutions, the metro region’s transportation options program, was named “Transportation Options Program of the Year” by the Oregon Transit Association. Commuter Solutions was called a “truly remarkable program advocating transportation options across the Eugene-Springfield metropolitan area” … and was acknowledged for “fostering unprecedented collaboration among Eugene-Springfield area jurisdictions to promote transportation options”. Commuter Solutions is housed at Lane Transit District Administration Offices and is overseen by representatives from local and state transportation divisions*. * City of Eugene, City of Springfield, City of Coburg, Lane County, Lane Council of Governments, Lane Transit District, Lane Regional Air Protection Agency and Oregon Department of Transportation Keep the EmX Lanes Clear Walking, skateboarding, cycling, parking, or driving in the exclusive EmX lanes creates a safety hazard and impacts the training that has begun. It may also cost you a hefty fine. The City of Eugene parking and traffic enforcement staff tell us that $25 tickets are being issued for illegally parking in the lane and that a moving violation ticket carries a fine of $237! Save your money for holiday shopping, stay safe, and keep the lanes clear for our operators. Holiday Taxi Program (Lane Transit District does not operate on Christmas Day) LTD once again will offer the Holiday Taxi Program on Christmas day in order to provide a transportation alternative to LTD customers. If you take a local taxi ride this Christmas, you will be able to use $10 of your taxi fare as a credit toward the future purchase of bus tokens or a bus pass. Present your receipt for credit at LTD Customer Service at 11^th & Willamette Street in Eugene by Monday, January 15, 2007. Eugene's Pedestrian and Bicycle Strategic Planning Process Underway On October 7, approximately 225 community members participated in the Eugene Walking and Biking Summit. Information gathered at the summit is the first building block in the development of a Pedestrian and Bicycle Strategic Plan for the City of Eugene. The first public workshop covering the topics of bicycle parking and theft prevention will be held in mid-January. For additional information, see Transportation - Ped & Bike Plan In the Spotlight If you were at the October ETC Luncheon, you heard Harlequin Beads & Jewelry owner, Stacy Bierma, co-present information on sustainability and transportation. Harlequin Beads & Jewelry has taken advantage of the Oregon Department of Energy’s Business Energy Tax Credit to offer LTD bus passes to their 19 employees. They have recently participated in a sustainability project sponsored by the City of Eugene, which helped them measure, manage, and market their environmental and social performance. SAVE THE DATE! Commuter Solutions will be holding our winter luncheon for Employee Transportation Coordinators at the Oregon Electric Station. Please mark your calendar for Wednesday, January 17 at 12:00, and watch the mail for your invitation! Gilham Elementary Students Awarded for Alternative Travel Gilham Elementary School students earned more than 5,600 “alternative travel” tickets by walking, biking, carpooling, or riding the bus to school during the month of October. In all, students made 49 percent of their trips to school through means other than driving alone with a parent. The month-long “Take Back the Parking Lot” campaign to reduce traffic congestion and promote the health benefits of physically active travel, was a cooperative project of Gilham Elementary and the Commuter Solutions’ Smart Ways to School Program, which provides free services to help students walk, bike, carpool, or ride a bus to school. Smart Ways to School presented Gilham Elementary with a check for $650 to fund field trips. Annual Route Review – Give Us Your Feedback Now! LTD Service Planning staff is gathering and reviewing suggestions for changes to LTD bus routes and schedules, so your feedback is important. The LTD Board of Directors will hold public hearings in February and March on the 2007 Annual Route Review (ARR) and fare increase. The public hearings give the public an opportunity to comment and make suggestions directly to the LTD Board about the service recommendations. Please contact LTD with your suggestions for service changes. Commuter Solutions Welcomes New Program Participants ~ Cameron McCarthy Gilbert and Scheibe Landscape Architects ~ Dougherty Landscape ~ Heritage Research Associates ~ Cascade Manor ~ GarageGames.com, Inc. If you do not wish to receive these communications in the future, please click here.