Welcome to our first online edition of Commuteride News. We welcome your
feedback, comments and employer commuter news. Please contact us at
commuteride@achd.ada.id.us We apologize for the delay in getting this
to you and thank you for your patience. We encountered some technical
challenges as we launched this first e-version of the Commuteride News.
In This Issue:
Marketing and Outreach Coordinator
Commuteride is please to announce that Kirk Montgomery has been hired
as the new Marketing and Outreach Coordinator. He will be supervising the
Employer Outreach Assistants. Kirk brings with him many years of transportation
experience including six years as Manager of Operations at Valley Ride. Kirk
was also one of the original founders of the Flying M coffee house.
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Clustered Employer Events
During the month of August and into September, Commuteride Employer Assistance
Representatives Denise Fitzgerald and Kristin Lundstrom tabled at Idaho Power,
One Capitol Plaza, Boise Cascade, City of Boise, Idaho Elks Rehabilitation
Hospital, Water Center Building, Wells Fargo Service Center and Albertsons.
Commuteride staff promoted carpooling, transit, bicycling and walking. At each
event one lucky commuter was randomly selected and received a special gift as a
reward for signing up for a match list. Jarred Blankenship of Valley Regional
Transit attended many of the events and spoke with employees about Valley Ride
bus services and upcoming schedule changes. Additionally October and November
have been busy months as we’ve attended many of your annual Health and Benefit
Fairs. We continue to promote vanpools with available seats and generate
interest among employees as we work to establish new vanpool routes.
Commuteride will continue this clustered event approach to maximize our
effectiveness in recruitment. If you’re an employer who would like us to
concentrate our efforts in your area we welcome your call at 345-POOL (7665).
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Valley Regional Transit Schedule Changes
Exciting changes occurred for the fixed-route public bus system in Boise and
Garden City on October 1. Following two years of research, planning and public
outreach, Valley Regional Transit (VRT), the public transportation authority
for Ada and Canyon counties, implement changes to the local bus route system.
These changes are designed to make the system easier to use and the bus routes
more direct. There have also been frequency improvements.
The changes to the Boise/Garden system bus routes represents phase two of the
short-range improvements developed by VRT as part of its Regional Operations
and Capital Improvement Plan (ROCIP). The short-range plan is designed to
increase rider ship on all ValleyRide services operated by VRT. Phase one of
the short-range plan, improvements to the Nampa/Caldwell and intercounty
systems, were implemented March 1, 2005.
Another improvement is the publication of a one-stop printed guide to all of the
ValleyRide services in both counties. The guide includes a single map which
shows the fixed-line bus routes in Nampa/Caldwell and Boise/Garden City, and
intercounty service. The guides also provide information about fares, basic
details on how to use the bus, and contact information. ValleyRide buses,
Commuteride, VRT Meridian and Boise offices, various retail outlets and
government offices throughout the region are your sources for the new guides.
Questions about ValleyRide bus services and requests for route guidebooks,
should be directed to the VRT RideLine at 345-RIDE (7433) Monday through
Saturday. More information about the new routes is available at
www.rideline.org
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Vanpool Seats Available & Forming Vanpool Routes
The following vanpools have SEATS AVAILABLE:
| Origin
|
Destination
|
Work Hours
|
| Emmett
|
Downtown Boise |
8:00am - 5:00pm
|
| Eagle
|
Downtown Boise |
8:00am - 5:00pm & 7:30am - 4:30pm
|
| Nampa
|
St. Al’s Area
|
7:30am - 4:30pm & 8:00am - 4:30pm
|
| Mountain Home
|
Boise
|
8:00am - 5:00 pm & 7:00 am - 4:30pm
|
| Kuna
|
Downtown Boise
|
Call for more information
|
| Mountain Home
|
Gowen Field
|
7:00am - 4:30pm
|
| Boise
|
Mountain Home AFB
|
Call for more information
|
| Nampa
|
Downtown Boise/BSU |
7:00am - 4:00pm
|
| Nampa
|
Downtown Boise
|
7:00am – 4:30pm & 7:30am – 4:30pm
|
The following vanpool routes are FORMING now:
|
| Origin
|
Destination
|
Work Hours
|
| Caldwell/Nampa
|
Downtown Boise
|
8:00am - 5:00pm
|
| Meridian
|
Downtown Boise |
8:00am - 5:00pm & 7:30am - 4:30pm
|
| Nampa
|
Gowen Field
|
7:30am - 4:30pm
|
| Banks/Horsehoe Bend
|
Gowen Field
|
7:30am - 4:30pm
|
| Meridian
|
Mountain Home AFB |
6:00am – 4:30pm
|
| Meridian
|
Micron
|
8:00am - 5:00pm
|
| Emmett
|
Micron
|
6:00am – 3:30pm
|
| Please call Kirk Montgomery for more detailed information at
387-6163. |
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TEA 21 is replaced by SAFTEA-LU Legislation
On August 10, President Bush signed into law the Safe, Accountable,
Flexible, Efficient Transportation Act replacing the Transportation Equity Act
for the 21 Century (TEA 21). This new transportation bill continues to allow
employers to provide up to $105 per month or $1,260 per year in transit
benefits to employees using transit or riding on vanpools. Employers may offer
this as a direct benefit or as a pre-tax payroll deduction or as a combination
of both. For information and guidance about setting up a Commuter Choice
Program at your worksite and adding this great “no cost” benefit for your
employees, we recommend you visit the U.S. Department of Transportation’s
Federal Transit Administration Commuter Choice Toolkit web page at
http://www.fta.dot.gov/2217_ENG_HTML.htm . For more information about the new
bill visit the American Public Transportation Association’s site at
http://www.apta.com/government_affairs/washrep/documents/2005august03.pdf.
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Seeking Carpool Partner…
Are high gasoline prices making you think twice about driving alone to work?
Are you hearing from your employees that they want some assistance with commute
options? We recommend you put a link to our website and phone number on your
intranet directing your employees to our helpful ride matching database at
www.commuteride.com . Commuters can request both carpool and vanpool matches.
Our services are free and remember the more people who register; the better
everyone’s chances are for a carpool match!
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Bicycle Safety
Commuteride would like to remind all employers with bicycle commuters to
encourage your employees to wear helmets and always follow the rules of the
road. Commuteride has limited quantities of bicycle information available
including Idaho Bicycle Commuter Guides, Ada County Ridge to Rivers Bikeway
Facilities Maps, Getting the Green - A Cyclists Guide to Getting Traffic
Signals to Turn Green, and Bicycle Safer - an interactive bicyclist safety
awareness CD in English and Spanish from the US Department of Transportation.
All are available on a first-come first-served basis. E-mail us at
Commuteride@achd.ada.id.us to request copies.
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Walking to Work
Do you have employees who walk to work? If so, you may want to
consider rewarding them for their efforts! How about providing them with a pair
of walking shoes once a year or something simpler, like a broad brimmed hat. If
you are interested in pedestrian issues, visit The National Coalition of
Walking Advocates America Walks website at http://www.americawalks.org.
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New Brochure Display Racks
Commuteride has a variety of new brochure display holders in addition to our
wall mounted Kiosks available for you. If you’ve run out of or have outdated
brochures or have never had our brochures and would like to receive them,
please e-mail us at Commuteride@achd.ada.id.us
and we would be happy to deliver current materials and racks to your business
or organization.
Upcoming ETC Meeting - January 31, 2006:
Our upcoming Employee Transportation Coordinator meeting is
scheduled for January 31 and will be held at the Ada County Highway District at
3775 Adams Street in Garden City. We will be sending out invitation and
registration information later in December.
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