Commute Options and Benefits

Transportation Demand Management (TDM) accommodates growing travel demand by increasing the number of trips people take using alternative modes. Alameda County's TDM Program educates people about and promotes ridesharing, bicycling, walking and using express lanes and public transit, as well as better parking management, telecommuting and flex work schedules to decrease peak demand on the transportation system and improve its efficiency.

Read the Alameda County Transportation Demand Management Program fact sheet.

Encourage biking to work by providing secure bike parking for your employees.

As an incentive to not drive alone, many employers in Alameda County reserve priority parking spaces for people who carpool or vanpool to work. Employers can encourage employees to share rides to work through vanpool and ride matching programs. See 511’s Commuter Benefits information for more on carpool and vanpool programs.

Some cities and employers use car sharing to replace their fleet vehicles and to alleviate employees’ needs to drive their personal cars to work because they need to use them for work-related travel. Zipcar and City Carshare have fleets of vehicles available for hourly and daily rentals within Alameda County. Getaround and RelayRides arrange more casual car sharing arrangements (known as peer-to-peer car sharing services). If you are interested in bringing car sharing to your place of business, or setting up a business account your employees can use, contact these services directly.

Bike East Bay can provide adult urban bicycling classes on-site at low or no cost. As an employer, you can request an on-site class by filling out an application on their website.

Employers and property managers of large residential sites can increase the visibility and usability of transit by providing on-site transit information. There are an increasing number of options for providing this information. For example, TransitScreen and Moovel are two such vendors.

Parking Cash-out (Allow Employees to Choose Subsidized Parking or Cash Allowance)

California state law requires that certain employers with more than 50 employees who provide subsidized parking for their employees also offer a cash allowance in lieu of a parking space. See the Air Resources Board website for more information.

Allowing employees to telecommute (work remotely) or to work a flexible schedule (eg. 40 hours in 4 days or later workday start times) reduces commute trips both in the morning and afternoon peak periods. Employees benefit from reduced commute times from this program that has very low costs to implement. Employers can benefit as well in the form of the increased effectiveness, lower turnover rate and reduced sick leave use by telecommuters.

TMAs are local organizations that help employers manage their transportation needs by providing additional services, benefits, and resources such as special shuttles and targeted commuter information. Typically, TMAs are a public-private partnership between local government and local businesses. Several areas of Alameda County are already covered by TMAs. See if your company is located in one of these areas:

Alameda County is rich with transportation choices. Whether you’re a commuter trying to affordably and safely get around, or an employer coordinating staff transportation options, Alameda County and the Bay Area are full of options. These include commuter benefits programs, buses, trains, shuttles, ferries, carpools, and vanpools, ridesharing, walking and biking. Visit https://511.org/ for commuting and trip planning assistance.

October is Share Your Ride Month in the Bay Area. Help reduce traffic - try taking transit, biking or sharing your ride at least once a week in October.

Alameda County Guaranteed Ride Home Program

Resources for Employers

Commute Options in My City

For comprehensive information on Commute Choices in Alameda County visit: http://commutechoices.alamedactc.org/ Click on links below for information provided by each city: For customized assistance in creating a commuter benefits program, we recommend contacting the Bay Area Commuter Benefits Program.

Commute Strategies

There are several strategies available to make your commuter benefits program successful and comply with the Bay Area’s Commuter Benefits requirements. The strategies listed in the Transportation Demand Management create a toolkit for Alameda County employers interested in setting up a commuter benefits program. Employees who carpool, vanpool, take transit, bike or walk to work are eligible for the county’s free Guaranteed Ride Home Program. The program ensures that your employees have a free ride home in the case of an emergency. This program supports their use of transit and other sustainable transportation modes by increasing their flexibility to respond to unexpected situations. For more information, please visit the Alameda County Guaranteed Ride Home Program website at grh.alamedactc.org or call 510.433.0320.

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