Posts

3 Hospital Commuter Solutions that Reduce Solo Car Commutes and Save Money

/0 Comments/in , , ,

Looking to reduce vehicle trips to and around your hospital? Transportation demand management (TDM) is a great way to improve access, reduce pollution, and ease the costs associated with increased parking. Implementing some simple but effective hospital commuter solutions can measurable reduce the number of solo drivers traveling to and from your facility each day.

Here are three winning strategies that healthcare administrators around the country are already using to great success:

Pay employees to leave their cars at home

Regardless of the type of workplace, employers have great success with a simple but effective program: incentivize employees not to drive to work. The most successful employers offer cash in exchange for taking an alternative mode and passing up on parking. From payroll incentives to gift cards, and even paid time off, the right incentives lead to significant numbers of employees choosing  smart alternatives to solo driving.

Raise the cost of parking

Another straightforward, high-impact strategy for the hospital mobility ecosystem: make it more expensive for employees to park. For example, if you currently offer employees a discounted monthly parking pass, instead charge solo drivers regular daily parking rates.

This is a very effective strategy, but to avoid a mutiny, you need to pair this kind of initiative with hospital commuter solutions that make it less expensive for employees to use other modes. Rideshare matching paired with a guaranteed ride home programs is a great option, as is public transportation. To that end:

Your hospital commuter solutions should encourage public transit use

Hospitals are usually situated so they’re easily accessible via public transportation. Take advantage of this by offering to subsidize or fully fund monthly transit passes so your commuters can save money by taking the bus or subway to work instead of driving.

If local transit routes don’t serve your hospital particularly well, consider shuttle service as an option. Running private shuttles between the hospital and major public transportation hubs in the nearby area is a cost-effective and easy way to bridge service gaps.

For more tips on reducing solo car commuting, and for expert insights into your current lineup of hospital commuter solutions, talk to our experts to get started with RideAmigos today.

5 Ways Bike Commuting Benefits Your Bottom Line

/0 Comments/in

Bicycle commuting creates a positive impact on your organization

May is National Bike Month! In honor of the occasion, it’s time to highlight five often-overlooked ways that bicycle commuting delivers bottom-line benefits to businesses and organizations.

More bike commuters means less need for parking

Renting or building additional parking spaces to accommodate vehicles can be very costly. Many bicycles can fit in the space a car would normally occupy, and providing secure bicycle lock-ups and racks can be achieved for a small fraction of the cost of adding parking.

Cycling reduces stress

Research has shown that a single-occupancy vehicle is the most stressful way to get to and from work. Battling other drivers for space on congested highways and thoroughfares is never a great way to start the day.

Cycling, by comparison, is far less stressful. Studies indicate that those who choose smarter forms of transportation, including bicycles, improve their productivity in addition to reducing stress.

Bike commuters take fewer sick days

The British Medical Journal recently published a study showing that cycling is one of the healthiest ways to commute. It provides a great cardiovascular workout that helps support immune system function. Those who cycle to work are less likely to miss days due to illness, in large part because they tend to have better overall health than those who choose sedentary modes of transportation.

Cycling is a great team-building activity

A growing number of businesses are discovering the benefits of bikepools, in which more experienced riders team up with lesser experienced bike commuters to show them the ropes of urban cycling. Bikepools offer an organic, engaging way to promote camaraderie, collaboration, and friendship, all of which help create a more unified work environment.

It boosts organizational credibility

Eco-friendly values are proving to deliver major branding and image-boosting benefits for businesses. By promoting and encouraging bike-based commuting, businesses can build a better public image, attract higher-quality employees and do a better job of retaining talent.

Moreover, you’ll connect with a broader base of potential customers, as market research is showing that people are increasingly choosing products and services delivered by businesses that share their values.

To learn more about how your organization can benefit from a higher rate of bike commuting, and get proven tools for promoting cycling as an alternative to driving, let us know you’re ready to get started with RideAmigos!

Alternatives to More Parking

/0 Comments/in

Seeking alternatives to more parking?

Try strategies that get commuters out of single-occupancy vehicles.

Soaring parking demand often puts transportation managers in a difficult spot. In many cases, it isn’t physically possible to add more parking spots. This forces businesses and organizations to consider inconvenient alternatives like offsite parking. Even when it is possible to add more parking spots, doing so is almost always a costly proposition that isn’t likely to generate positive returns in the long run. Thankfully, there are some great alternatives to more parking that can both save money and reduce corporate environmental impact.

The best alternatives to adding more parking are those that get people out of single-occupancy vehicles and into smarter options for getting where they need to go. Here’s a look at the most popular options, along with ways to encourage commuters to use them:

  • Rideshares and carpools: Smart, location-aware ridesharing programs help interested commuters connect and make arrangements to share costs and driving duties.
  • Vanpool programs: Set up vanpool shuttles that link major regional transit hubs to your offices or work sites.
  • Bike to work: Provide bike commuters with route guidance, bikepool buddies, and resources like secure racks, lockers, showers, and “guaranteed ride home” options for stormy weather and unexpected emergencies.
  • Public transportation: Offer free or subsidized transit passes to get people to using buses, subways, and regional light rail trains instead of driving.

Incentive programs that track commuter usage of smart alternatives and reward individuals or groups are also a great way to get people out of their cars and into smarter options.

Of all the available alternatives to more parking, reducing demand is the best. Here’s the most effective strategy:

Parking cash-out programs are a proven method for reducing demand, making them one of the best alternatives to more parking. In a nutshell, these programs offer employees a choice: hang onto your parking spot, or take a weekly/monthly cash payout that represents the amount of money the business pays to rent or maintain the spot.

The reason it works is simple: it makes commuters feel as though they’re giving something up by continuing to drive to work and use a parking spot. When combined with other commuter management strategies, like rideshare matching, incentive programs, and subsidized transit passes, parking cash-outs are even more effective.

The revolutionary RideAmigos commuter management software platform is a great investment for businesses looking to change commuter behavior and cut the soaring costs associated with parking rentals and ownership. Get your organization moving in the right direction – contact RideAmigos today!

The #1 Commuter Parking Management Strategy

/0 Comments/in ,

Use this proven method to boost the effectiveness of your commuter parking management

Parking demand can cause major problems in the workplace, especially if your commuter base is heavily reliant on single-occupancy vehicles. However, by implementing a single strategy, you can massively improve your approach to commuter parking management. This winning strategy is known as parking cash-out.

Here’s how these highly successful programs work:

Parking cash-out is an ideal option for businesses that provide employees with subsidized or no-cost parking. The business begins by calculating its daily per-vehicle parking rate. Then, offer employees who drive to work a choice: take a cash payout, or use your parking spot. The payouts can be calculated and distributed on a weekly or monthly basis, or processed along with payroll.

For businesses that rent their parking facilities, figuring out the daily per-vehicle rate is easy: just divide your total parking costs by the number of spots you rent, then compute down to a daily figure. Companies that own their own parking facilities can estimate daily costs by adding up construction, operation, and maintenance costs associated with their parking lots, then dividing by the number of parking spots it holds. That figure can then be annualized, or broken down into quarters, months, weeks, or days.

Studies have shown that if you’re going to use only one commuter parking management strategy, this is the one to try. Parking cash-out programs can reduce parking demand by as much as 45 percent.

This strategy works because it gives commuters an immediate, tangible incentive not to drive to work. Most commuters that have access to free or low-cost parking don’t think much about what it costs the company. Offering them a cash payout in exchange for their parking spot will make the commuter feel as though he or she stands to lose something by continuing to solo-drive to work.

Companies can achieve long-term savings by sharply reducing the amount of parking they need to rent, or earn additional revenues by renting unused spots to other individuals or businesses. It’s a classic win-win situation that is well worth a try if you’re a facilities manager for a business struggling to figure out how to manage steep employee demand for costly parking.

RideAmigos is the perfect commuter management platform for implementing a parking cash-out program. Empower your employees to make smarter transportation choices like ridesharing, biking, and transit. Track commuting patterns. Incentivize preferred behaviors. All within one powerful system.

Get started with the commuter management pros at RideAmigos to learn how you can implement a parking cash out program.

LEED Parking: Can Green Parking Garages Be Certified?

/0 Comments/in

LEED Certification and Parking Facilities: Reducing Environmental Footprints

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification is part of a nationwide green construction program that grants accreditation to buildings and facilities that meet demanding energy efficiency and ecological standards. Earlier in LEED’s history, there was ongoing debate as to whether or not green parking garages, as standalone structures, could qualify for LEED certification. The long and short of it boils down to this: parking facilities by themselves cannot be certified under the LEED program, but they can incorporate features that help the building, as a whole, earn certification.

In addition, after the LEED decision, a new organization and new certification arose: the Green Parking Council and Green Garage Certification, recently renamed Parksmart. To make things even more confusing, Green Building Certification, Inc., which manages LEED certification for the USGBC, now manages Parksmart certification, too. So yes, green parking garages can be certified, just not LEED certified.

Technicalities and certifications aside, there are plenty of ways to “go green” by improving energy efficiency and reducing the environmental footprint of parking facilities. Lighting systems, parking priorities, construction materials and ventilation systems can all be configured to support green initiatives.

The Impact of Efficient Lighting

While parking structures themselves may not be eligible for LEED certification, they can take part in the U.S. Energy Department’s Lighting Energy Efficiency in Parking (LEEP) initiative. When the campaign went widespread in 2014, participating partners were able to cut lighting-related energy use by a whopping 90 percent.

The program encourages parking garages to switch to energy-efficient options like fluorescent, halide and LED-powered systems. It also promotes technologies that offer better control over light activation and deactivation, ensuring energy isn’t being wasted when the facility isn’t in use.

Special Access for Drivers of Efficient Vehicles

Another strategy that’s been used in traffic-heavy areas like Southern California is to give priority access to drivers of fuel-efficient hybrid or electric vehicles. Giving these vehicles access to the most conveniently located spots raises awareness of ecological issues and rewards drivers who are doing their part to reduce carbon emissions.

Getting Creative with Construction Materials

Paul de Ruiter Architects, a Dutch building design firm, recently made waves with a bold approach to parking structure construction. The firm created a garage made completely of recyclable materials, and engineered it so it could be dismantled in the future, when sustainable modes of transportation have become the standard and dedicated parking space for cars is no longer needed.
De Ruiter’s building, known as the Mors Gate garage, also uses natural ventilation, heat recovery systems and other advanced green technologies, leading some to hail it as a new standard in parking structure design. Even though a “future without cars” is still a long way off, innovation remains a powerful weapon in the fight against pollution.

Reducing Demand

While parking facilities themselves may not be eligible for LEED, one step toward certification for your building can include reducing the number of parking spaces you offer. How can this be justified? By reducing demand. TDM programs and software like RideAmigos can have an incredible effect on shifting the way people think about and use transportation, particularly for commuting. Contact us to learn more about how your organization can reduce its parking and environmental footprints and help transform transportation.

Tech Tools to Solve the Parking Crunch

/0 Comments/in

Parking is a major cause of traffic congestion and urban air pollution. How can technology help?

It’s a problem that practically every city dweller is familiar with: reaching a destination, only to find there’s nowhere to park.

A recent research project compiled by University of California-Los Angeles professor Donald Shoup found that it can take the average driver up to 14 minutes to find a parking spot. As much as 74 percent of parking congestion in major urban centers results from drivers looking for parking.

Clearly, parking is a major contributor to urban traffic and pollution problems. In searching for solutions, individual drivers and municipalities, businesses, and universities can take advantage of new technological tools to make parking easier, faster and more efficient.    

A Great Start: Smarter Parking

Here are a few examples of the innovative, technology-driven strategies municipalities are using to help manage parking-related issues:

San Francisco – The SFPark system  is one of the most successful examples of dynamic, technology-based solutions to parking challenges. Interfacing directly with the city’s parking infrastructure, SFPark tracks availability in real time, alerting users to parking garages that have the greatest number of available spaces. Drivers can head straight to where the parking is, rather than wasting time and fuel searching for a spot.

Boston – In Boston’s south end, similar technology is in use. A new app, called the Parker, displays parking availability information in real time, and also delivers turn-by-turn directions to drivers.

Minnesota – A recent collaboration between the University of Minnesota Center for Transportation Studies and MnDOT uses cameras to automatically detect parking available at truck stops. Real-time data is made available through the web, electronic road signs, and even in-cab messaging.

Sydney – The city of Sydney has developed its own unique take, designed for commuters who drive into the city for work. There, drivers can use an app developed by parking company Divvy to find vacant spaces available for rent in buildings. Commuters can save hundreds of dollars a month by renting a spot instead of paying for street parking, all while eliminating congestion.

Even Better: Reduce the Need

Making the most efficient use of available parking is an important step, but an even more effective route is reducing the need for parking by making it easier for people to carpool, bike, walk, or take public transit. To that end, here are some proven techniques organizations use to cut back on parking demand:

  • Colleges and universities can launch rideshare networks and vanpool services, or subsidize public transportation passes to get people using alternative modes. These campus parking solutions can save schools huge amounts of money by liberating them from the need to build onerous and expensive new parking facilities.
  • Businesses who own or lease their parking facilities can use innovative techniques to encourage employees to ditch the solo drive in favor of smart alternatives. Proven strategies to reduce enterprise parking costs include parking cash-out programs, earn-a-bike programs, and challenge and incentive programs that reward commuters for sharing rides, using transit, or adopting active commuting.
  • Government employers can use similar techniques to drive behavior change and scale down parking demand. Maximizing government parking is especially important, since public funds are used to cover operating costs.
  • Municipalities are moving toward strategies that make solo driving and parking less appealing from a cost perspective. Faced with more expensive parking and other tolls, many would-be solo motorists will make better use of available alternatives.

All of these programs and policies can be designed, promoted, refined, and administered with advanced software tools specifically designed for the transportation demand management market.

Manage Parking Needs with the RideAmigos Platform

Transportation demand management software like the RideAmigos platform offers powerful tools for managing parking assets and reducing parking demand. Our software can integrate with parking infrastructure in dynamic ways, and it can also help you create and manage programs that reduce or even eliminate the need for parking altogether. Through powerful trip planning tools and highly customizable incentive programs, our platform helps users take advantage of the many available alternatives to solo driving.

For more great content like this, sign up for our Commuter Tips emails.

Photo Credit: Steve Morgan

Plan Now for Fall Semester University Parking Needs

/0 Comments/in

Use summer downtime to plan ahead for the upcoming fall semester’s parking requirements

With graduation having come and gone for another year, college and university administrators can start thinking ahead to the upcoming fall semester. Though campus parking lots may be empty now, in a couple of months they’ll be brimming with vehicles as students, faculty, and staff compete for spots.

Advance planning is the key to managing parking and vehicle overflow issues. Strategies can be broadly grouped into three main categories: creating sound parking policies, making the most of mass transit options, and introducing new ways to manage traffic flow.

Colleges and universities have generated beneficial results by adjusting their parking policies, using techniques like:

  • Assigning parking passes based on seniority and the individual’s role in the campus community, giving first dibs to the longest-tenured community members and those with a demonstrated need for on-campus parking
  • Introducing mobile parking meters, which improve traffic flow by preventing the need for drivers to find stationary meters
  • Increasing parking rates so more people choose alternative modes of transportation

To that end, university administrators can encourage community members to take better advantage of mass transit options:

  • Offer subsidized transit passes, or work transit pass costs into existing student fee schedules
  • Use campus shuttles to help staff and students get around large campuses quickly and without driving

Finally, keep traffic flow rates under control by:

  • Spreading out class schedules over the course of the day to reduce traffic congestion
  • Making central campus areas inaccessible to drivers, forcing them to park on the periphery of the campus and walk, bike, or use shuttles
  • Eliminating daytime traffic altogether; a growing number of universities have completely shut down campuses to vehicles during daytime hours to great effect

Technological tools can support campus transportation initiatives

Transportation demand management software like the RideAmigos platform offers major benefits to colleges and universities looking to reduce parking demand. Our platform’s commute trip planner tool is invaluable for staff and students who live off campus, helping them build efficient and green-friendly transportation plans that help them save money while reducing traffic burdens. Administrators can set up incentive programs and challenges to encourage the use of transportation alternatives. Event travel planning and event ridesharing programs help ease congestion during extra-busy times, like homecoming, football games, and parents’ weekends. 

Ready to learn more? Please contact us or view a free, comprehensive video demonstration of our revolutionary software.

Photo credit: mehmet canli

Reduce Your Parking Footprint for LEED Credit

/0 Comments/in

Earn credit toward LEED certification by reducing your building’s parking footprint

Parking spaces are expensive and are a major source of soil and water pollution. Forward-thinking companies seeking Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification for their buildings can earn credit by minimizing the environmental impact of their parking facilities. If you’re planning or building a new location for your company and you want to enjoy the ecological and marketing benefits that come with LEED certification, it’s easy to take action to start reducing your parking footprint now.

LEED is the world’s most recognized green building certification. Available to buildings that meet elevated standards for energy efficiency and green design, LEED certification is more than just a way to help reduce pollution and minimize ecological impact. It also supports marketing and branding efforts by reinforcing your company’s ecologically friendly values, and it can also add to the resale price of the finished property.

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) recently announced a new program that allows builders to earn credit towards LEED certification by reducing their parking footprint. Here are the specifics:

  • To qualify, buildings must not have more than the minimum parking capacity, as defined by local code requirements.
  • Buildings can also qualify by having less parking capacity than the recommended base ratios suggested by the Parking Consultants Council (PCC), which are available in the Institute of Transportation Engineers’ Transportation Planning Handbook, 3rd Edition, Tables 18-2, 18-3 and 18-4.
  • Projects are also able to earn points by meeting LT Credit Surrounding Density and Diverse Areas, or LT Credit Access to Quality Transit requirements.
  • Projects without these LT credits must have at least 20 percent less parking capacity than the PCC base ratios.
  • Projects with LT credits must have at least 40 percent less parking capacity than the PCC base ratios.

Full program details can be viewed on the USGBC website.

Empower commuters to use alternative means of transportation to reduce your parking needs

If you’re looking to reduce your parking capacity, it’s essential that you offer alternatives to commuters and employees. Encouraging people to use environmentally responsible transportation such as ridesharing, carpooling, public transit, or biking is the best way to keep your parking requirements as low as possible. Transportation demand management software, like RideAmigos, provides powerful tools for reducing your parking needs by empowering and incentivizing people to change the way they commute. 

Our revolutionary transportation management platform offers an easy-to-use commuter trip planner, extensive ridesharing features, motivational incentive options, powerful data analysis tools, and more. We make it easy for users to skip the solo drive and affordable for organizations to reduce their environmental footprint. To learn more, check out our demo video or contact us today.

Photo Credit: Tilt Shift Parking Lot by Nic Redhead

Pages

Strategies for Reducing Parking Costs

/in
Read more

Alternatives to Free Employee Parking

/in

Free employee parking is part of the cost of doing business…but does it have to be?

By and large, employees expect free on-site parking at their workplaces. It’s so common that most people in non-managerial positions rarely consider how much it costs the company they work for to provide no-cost employee parking. By the same token, free employee parking is so ubiquitous that most companies just think of it as a necessary cost of doing business.

Yet, the realities of continued urban growth are putting the squeeze on a growing number of companies that are struggling to control parking demand and the associated costs. Building new parking facilities is an extremely expensive undertaking, and buying or leasing parking spots for employees in major urban centers can cost a shocking amount of money.

In an effort to keep parking costs and demand in check, it’s becoming increasingly common for businesses to consider alternatives to free employee parking. Since taking away free parking privileges or suddenly announcing that employees are expected to pay for their parking isn’t generally good for morale or employee retention, companies are looking for creative solutions with positive impacts. The good news is that there are many such options available.

Consider these alternatives to free employee parking and enjoy the ancillary benefits they deliver.

The key to reducing parking demand and the accompanying costs is to change commuter behavior. By guiding employees away from single-occupancy vehicles, businesses can achieve an organic reduction in parking demand and achieve significant cost relief.

Here are some winning strategies:

Parking cash-out programs. This approach offers direct financial benefits to employees who willingly surrender their parking privileges by giving them an opportunity to recoup some of the funds that would otherwise have been used to rent, lease or maintain their parking spot.

Earn-a-bike programs. Create a program that gives employees credit toward a new bike every time they log a commute using an alternative mode of transportation.

Subsidized transit passes. Full or partial subsidies for monthly passes to local transit networks gets more employees using public transportation, thus reducing parking demand.

Offering vanpools. Do a lot of commuters travel through a particular hub on your local transit network? Consider implementing a vanpool shuttle between that transit hub and your business site to help ease the parking logjam.

Offer paid credits to ride-hailing services. Like parking cash-out programs, this strategy reassigns the money that would otherwise be used to finance employee parking. Along with ridesharing and vanpools or shuttles, this can be a great strategy for solving “last-mile” problems between transit locations, home, and office.

By providing a varied range of alternatives, businesses allow commuters to choose the travel mode that best suits their lifestyle and preferences. Giving commuters the flexibility to use their preferred mode of transportation while enjoying full company support creates a win-win situation for all involved.

Get started today by learning more about alternatives to free employee parking.

University Ridesharing and Commuter Services

/in

Solve parking and congestion woes by introducing an expanded range of university commuter services.

University and college campuses face a unique set of transportation demand management challenges. Parking is limited, forcing schools to make difficult choices when determining how to distribute permits. Students, staff and faculty tend to keep irregular hours, given the prevalence of evening and weekend classes.

A lot of schools provide free or subsidized transit passes, which helps but doesn’t often provide a complete solution. Given how limited most campus parking facilities are, colleges and universities usually need to take a multi-pronged approach that combines several effective strategies.

One emerging approach that’s making waves at campuses across the country is to expand the available range of university commuter services. Mobile connectivity has created new possibilities that didn’t exist before the smartphone revolution. Schools that embrace cutting-edge commute to school apps open up a dynamic range of smart, sustainable transportation choices.

Ridesharing is one of the most popular alternatives. Campus ridesharing programs usually take one of two forms:

  • Carpooling communities: Students, staff and faculty can join carpools with regular schedules, or access available carpools on an as-needed basis to travel to or from campus. Carpools can also extend to weekend rides home, getaways during school breaks, and more.
  • Vanpool services: Arrange vanpool shuttles from nearby city landmarks or major public transit stations and give campus members a convenient and affordable alternative to driving.

Both are cost-effective, high-impact options with strong appeal for students with limited transportation budgets.

Understand the features of an effective campus carpool network.

For students, the potential cost savings they can realize by carpooling instead of driving are only part of the equation. Many colleges have attempted to create internet-powered ridesharing networks, only to see very low participation rates. This often happens because the network lacks an identity.

Students are less likely to use a university rideshare app that makes anonymous connections. Instead, allow users to link their posts to social media profiles so potential matches can put faces to names. Schools that allow drivers and riders to exchange information about things like music and smoking preferences also tend to have higher success rates.

Basically, it boils down to this: if you build in features that allow users to refine their results to find more precise matches, your program is more likely to become a success. The same is true if your approach eschews anonymity in favor of a more personal approach.

University rideshare solutions for faculty and staff often need to be tweaked in their focus so they speak directly to the needs of employed commuters. Initiatives aimed at engaging staff members can use proven workplace strategies like gamification, premium parking for carpool vehicles, and parking cash-out programs, among others.

Interested in making a vanpool part of your university ridesharing program? Follow these planning tips to success.

Adding a vanpool to your university ridesharing and commuter services is an excellent way to solve the so-called “first mile/last mile” dilemma. Vanpools provide convenient, direct links between campus and major transportation hubs. They’re especially effective in schools that draw a lot of commuters but aren’t well-served by high-speed forms of public transportation.

Here are some strategic keys that can help make your vanpool program a success:

  • Schedule regular service with increased frequency during peak hours
  • Integrate vanpools into your existing rideshare matching and commuter management services
  • Promote the service through widely used communication channels so campus members know about it

Finally, make your vanpool accessible to all campus members, rather than restricting eligibility to only students. You’ll maximize the efficiency of your operational budget and drive higher participation rates by making vanpooling an option for all campus community members.

Campus communities enjoy major benefits by adding university ridesharing programs to their list of transportation options.

These university ridesharing options deliver significant, continuous benefits to campuses, including:

  • Reduced demand for parking, leading to cost savings
  • Less on-campus vehicular traffic, improving safety for pedestrians and cyclists
  • A clear alignment with environmentally responsible values
  • Decreased emissions and pollution

They’re also a great social tool for helping students, staff and faculty interact with a broader range of community members. By helping you create and manage new university commuter services, RideAmigos can help you build a stronger and more interconnected campus.

Smart ridesharing and incentive programs can be a great way to address parking problems. Check out our free, downloadable PDF  on curbing campus parking demand.

The RideAmigos software platform delivers powerful management and administration tools, serving as the central hub of your university ridesharing initiative. We’ve already helped a long and growing list of schools around the world better manage their transportation needs, and we’d love to add your campus to our list of success stories. Get started today with a free analysis of your existing commuter programs, helpful commuter management tools, or a detailed one-on-one consultation.

Reducing Parking Costs

/in

Reducing parking costs doesn’t just boost your bottom line, it also helps the environment and creates a safer community

Providing employees with safe, accessible parking places can cost businesses thousands of dollars per month. This is especially true for companies with offices in high-demand areas, where multiple enterprises have to compete for limited resources.

The most direct path to reducing parking costs is to get employees to leave their cars at home and find alternative ways of getting to work. After all, the cheapest parking spot is one that isn’t needed in the first place.

It isn’t just businesses that can benefit by reducing demand for parking. Community colleges and universities are constantly struggling to make the best possible use of their limited parking resources. Assigning and managing parking passes can be a complicated process that drains finances and makes inefficient use of employee time.

Campus safety is another big concern for college and university administrators. One of the best ways to build a pedestrian-friendly school community is to scale back the number of vehicles using campus roads. Commuter management software tools like the RideAmigos platform helps achieve this while simultaneously reducing demand for parking.

Helping commuters find efficient transportation alternatives is the key to reducing parking costs

Connecting commuters to transportation options that don’t require parking is the simplest and most effective way to cut costs and enhance community safety. The RideAmigos platform puts powerful tools in the hands of businesses and organizations, making it easy to:

  • Create and manage carpool, bikepool, and rideshare networks
  • Put commuters who live in the same area in contact with each other
  • Find a complete range of local transportation alternatives, including public transit, rideshares, vanpools, and walking/biking routes
  • Save journey details for easy future reference
  • Create and manage commuter challenge and incentive programs that give people added impetus to participate
  • Build custom commuter networks for easier program management
  • Generate custom reports to track program progress and make strategic improvements

Together, these capabilities have the potential to dramatically reduce parking costs and relieve traffic congestion.

With an industry-leading suite of powerful commuter management features, the RideAmigos platform is the ideal partner for enterprises and organizations looking to cut parking costs by getting community members out of single-occupancy vehicles.

To learn more about how our revolutionary platform can help your business or organization reduce parking needs and increase commuter satisfaction, contact us today or sign up to view our free video demonstration.