Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan of the New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) recognized 11 New York City companies that have earned Regional Commuter Choice Awards for making a commitment to providing benefits that help reduce traffic and air pollution and improve the quality of life for employees. This year’s winners help eliminate nearly 40,000 air-polluting-vehicle-trips from city streets every week.
“Summer is when ozone and other air pollutants climb to their highest levels of the year,” said Sadik-Khan. “Automobile exhaust contributes to the problem. The Regional Commuter Choice Award winners are letting drivers know there’s a better, cleaner way to get to work in New York City and we applaud them greatly for it.”
The New York City winners are:
AHRC
Blue Cross/Blue Shield
The second annual 2007 Regional Commuter Choice Awards — a regional expansion of Environmental Protection Agency’s Best Workplaces for Commuters — is sponsored by the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council (NYMTC) in collaboration with the Metropolitan Mobility Network. To qualify, employers in New York City, Long Island, Rockland, Westchester and Putnam Counties must demonstrate a commitment to getting employees to try alternatives to driving single occupancy vehicles to work.
Commute alternatives include car and vanpools, mass transit, bicycling, telecommuting and other options that help improve air quality and traffic congestion.
Motor vehicles on the road — even newer, cleaner models — still account for at least 25 percent of air-polluting emissions nationwide, according to the Federal Highway Administration. To help reverse the trend locally, some employers are taking an environmental lead by encouraging workers to rethink their transportation choices — and for good reason.
The typical “peak period” driver in a single occupancy vehicle burns an extra 28 gallons of gas per year getting caught in traffic jams, spewing tailpipe emissions and increasing their stress and commuting costs. But commuters who carpool in the HOV lane, hop on the train or telecommute have a different story to tell.
The employees taking part in the commuter programs of this year’s Regional Commuter Choice Award winners make 60,000 fewer car trips and save more than a million vehicle miles every week.
