Posts

Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) Takes Commuter Rewards to the Next Level

/0 Comments/in , , ,

In December 2018, the Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) launched a new commuter rewards program to the public. The CATS program allows commuters to earn points towards valuable rewards by logging smart commutes using approved alternatives to solo driving. CATS configured the system so that 10 round trips logged using approved modes could earn the commuter a $5 reward.

Just 10 days after launching, the CATS commuter rewards program attracted almost 200 new users, marking a 500% increase in registered users over the preceding three-month period. Over those 10 days, participants posted some pretty impressive stats: they logged 1,200 alternative trips totaling 14,900 miles, which saved 3.83 tons of CO2 emissions.

CATS program administrators used a few targeted approaches to generate interest in the program. First, they enticed new users by offering bonus points for joining, putting them within striking distance of a prize right off the bat. They also structured their program to include progressive reward tiers, giving participants added incentives for logging more trips and saving their points for a truly special prize. The resulting engagement and impact speaks for itself!

Learning from Programs that Work

The CATS program is powered by CommuteRewards, part of the RideAmigos cloud-based platform that automates the kinds of proven points programs that have worked for innovative employers like the City of Austin and regional agencies like Commute.org.

Key advantages of the CommuteRewards program:

  • Easy management. By taking advantage of automation, the program eliminated the need to worry about how many rewards to purchase from each vendor at any given time. Instead, they simply define a budget and set point values. Earning and redeeming points is self-service!
  • Tons of choice. Because more than 100 different rewards providers participate, there is no guessing which vendors commuters will like best. Everyone is different, so the program lets them choose their own rewards from a wide variety of retailers and restaurants.
  • Streamlined administration. The CommuteRewards store is configured for easy administration, so you don’t have to keep track of digital codes, leftover gift cards from previous events, or other similar management and reporting headaches.

Commuter rewards are generally a great way to motivate employees to make better and more frequent use of greener, smarter alternatives. A growing number of companies and organizations are turning to this strategy to complement their outreach and commuter challenges and promote sustained behavior change. If you’d like to learn more, we’d be happy to help!

Encouraging Government Collaboration

/0 Comments/in

Governments should collaborate and work together, rather than alone, to find effective transportation management solutions.

To truly change the way people commute and move around urban areas, it is absolutely necessary for government agencies to form partnerships and engage in collaborative efforts. Government collaboration leads to proven benefits, including increases in both the quality and the quantity of available data, heightened user and community engagement, and a big boost to the pool of resources on hand.

Progress can’t be made in a bubble, and the effects of positive change are stifled when they’re limited to isolated communities and confined geographic areas. In an age ruled by information, there’s no reason for governments to take a limited view when collaboration and collective approaches to implementing improvements are so much easier than they were in the past.

In some cases, the willingness to collaborate is there but the actual tools governments need to foster deeper levels of cooperation are not. To that end, here are some key ways government agencies can work together to build a better transportation management system:

  • Share overlapping sets of data. Shared databases that allow users cross-county access to information make for excellent commute planning tools. Local governments can also share trip logs, trip reports and user-generated data to uncover the key insights that lead to progressive and effective policy changes.
  • Leverage collective changes across public and private sectors. When the public and private sectors work together to find dynamic new solutions, everyone wins. Municipalities and local governments save money, boost economic growth and cut down on traffic congestion, and businesses build more productive, more efficient and more satisfying workforces.
  • Help local companies implement smarter commuting policies. If companies have multiple offices or locations that cross county lines or other geographic boundaries, governments that don’t collaborate to facilitate change are working against the economic and environmental good. Instead, work together to help companies with multiple locations plan more intelligently and offer their employees a better way to get around.
  • Copy what works. If your neighbor has introduced a change that’s generating positive results, just take what they’ve done and do it yourself! When solutions are proven to work, it’s easier to get community members and stakeholders on board, and that will ultimately be better for everyone.

Collaboration promotes goodwill between communities while maximizing the reach of taxpayer monies. Think “we,” not “us,” and get on the road to a better way of living that benefits everyone.

RideAmigos actively supports collaboration between government agencies and other clients through our innovative academy site, where users can learn from the ideas and successes of colleagues around the world.

To learn more about how we can meet your transportation management needs, please take a look at our video demo.

Pages

Government Rideshare Solutions

/in

Government Rideshare Solutions

Set a shining example with the RideAmigos suite of government rideshare solutions.

Government organizations play a key leadership role in bringing about changes in the way people move around cities and regions. Because of this, implementing government rideshare solutions is a great way to send the right message. Reducing reliance on single-occupancy vehicles stands to save government untold millions of dollars on infrastructure upkeep and pollution-related costs. Creating easy-to-use rideshare programs for commuters is an excellent way create change.

The RideAmigos suite of user-friendly and powerful government transportation demand management solutions makes it easy for COGs, TMAs and TMOs to create, publicize, and manage rideshare networks. Government agencies can launch interactive rideshare networks and subnetworks for specific geographic regions or individual companies within minutes. Network adminstrators will enjoy outstanding convenience and pinpoint control over the creation, contextualization, and administration of employee-oriented rideshare networks. As you can see, RideAmigos is packed full of features that support to more widespread adoption of smart commuting and alternative transportation strategies.

Powerful features make it easy to illuminate and analyze the positive impact of government rideshare solutions.

The advanced commuter data analysis tools offered by the RideAmigos software platform are invaluable to government agencies. These analytic capabilities allow government organizations to gather revealing metrics and important information about commuter transportation habits with ease through a robust variety of analysis options.

Specific to government rideshare solutions, these analytic capabilities gather data related to program usage. Supplemented with dynamic geographic information system (GIS) mapping features, it’s a breeze to use RideAmigos to generate visualizations, maps, graphs, and charts. Together, these features can paint a detailed picture of how effective current programs are. The data analysis supported by our software platform helps key decision-makers and policy designers make wiser, evidence-based decisions about how to expand and improve transportation initiatives.

A growing number of government-sector organizations have adopted our comprehensive rideshare platform in recent years, to great success. Ridesharing has proven to be one of the most effective ways to reduce reliance on single-occupancy vehicles while still allowing commuters to enjoy the key benefits of private transportation.

If you’d like to learn more about our government rideshare solutions, or if you’re interested in exploring our software platform’s full set of capabilities, please contact us or sign up to view our free, comprehensive video demo.

Government Transportation Demand Management

/in

Government Transportation Demand Management

Transportation demand management has emerged as a crucial area of focus for local and regional governments across the country and around the world.

From the earliest beginnings of the transportation demand management (TDM) movement, government agencies have been front and center. Government decisions impact thousands of people belonging to both current and future generations. Therefore, the importance of making the right choices cannot be overstated. Government TDM solutions like the RideAmigos software platform provide decision-makers with an enhanced range of powerful tools. This can make a world of difference when it comes to the smart management of urban growth and changing transportation needs.

The era of the single-occupancy vehicle finally appears to be waning, and municipalities across the United States and around the world are looking to the future. They’re finding out that what’s set to change isn’t so much the ways people get around. Rather, what will change are the ways people access those transportation options. Modes like rapid light rail transit, subways, buses, walking, cycling, ridesharing, and carpooling are all here to stay. Giving people new ways to locate and manage such choices is what’s going to build a better future.

Government agencies are also tasked with finding ways to manage the differing and sometimes-conflicting needs of the private sector and the public. The keys to success are communication and policy decisions that are guided by hard data and analytics, rather than special interests and anecdotal evidence. This is where the RideAmigos commuter management platform can make a major difference.

Discover a new generation of powerful TDM solutions for government agencies.

The RideAmigos platform provides parent organizations with effective and easy-to-use technology-driven solutions that support the creation and management of TDM networks and subnetworks. This provides government transportation demand management authorities with superior levels of control and autonomy when creating, contextualizing, and managing municipal transportation programs. It also puts powerful management solutions in their hands, enabling them to identify, anticipate, and solve challenges and problems through advanced analytics and data collection initiatives.

RideAmigos has already helped dozens of government agencies make more efficient and cost-effective forays into the dynamic 21st-century transportation demand management landscape. To learn more about how the RideAmigos platform supports government organizations and policy makers, please contact us or register to view our comprehensive video demonstration.

Government TDM Articles