Boulder County

Boulder County

Boulder County fosters a robust Employee Transportation Program with the intent of reducing SOV trips by employees and to lead by example-- supporting the Transportation Department’s community-wide efforts to increase multi-modal travel. This program provides a variety of policies, subsidies, incentives, education and encouragement techniques and helps to reduce congestion, prevent air pollution and solve parking challenges while also saving employees money and promoting active lifestyles. 

Boulder County has policies that allow for and encourage telecommuting, flexwork and compressed work weeks, with many employees working four 10-hour days each week or just nine 9-hour days every two weeks, reducing the number of commute trips made. Another policy ensures multimodal options are considered for work trips during the day too, with a SOV car trip being allowed only as a last resort if the trip is not feasible by transit, carpooling, bicycling or walking. EcoPasses are purchased for all benefited employees (about 1,900!), and the county offers ‘commuter checks’ to non-benefited employees for the purchase of RTD transit passes. Vanpool ridership, through DRCOG’s Way To Go program (and VanGo) is also encouraged and incentivized with a monthly subsidy check to all employee vanpoolers. Each month an employee is recognized with a “Star Commuter Award” for their extraordinary commitment to sustainable commuting and rewarded with a gift card to a local business. B-cycle memberships are provided free-of-charge to employees and as of December 2012 employees had taken over 2,500 trips and bicycled over 7,300 miles since the program’s inception in mid-2011. 

The County has recently partnered with eGo CarShare as well, placing vehicles at our two largest office complexes and offering free memberships and other fantastic discounts. These cars, along with our fleet vehicles, allow employees to leave their car at home, but have one available to them while at work. All county office locations have bicycle racks for both employees and customers, and several office locations provide preferential parking for carpoolers and vanpoolers- including 9 spaces at the County Courthouse! 

Boulder County Employees have been very active participants in DRCOG’s Bike to Work Day, either winning the overall Business Challenge or the award for our division every year since 2007 (at least). The County expands on B2WD, by making it a multi-modal week (Transit Tuesdays, Carpool/Vanpool Thursdays & Walk all Week). In 2012, 540 employees participated and received great prizes like B2WD t-shirts, fair trade coffee and gift cards to local businesses. Each of these programs is managed by the County’s Employee Transportation Coordinator. They are promoted through posters, mass e-mails, the county’s intranet site, group B-cycle rides and through presentations at staff meetings and at bi-weekly new employee orientation seminars so that sustainable commuting habits can be encouraged from day one!