5.65.070 Requirements for Employers.
Every affected employer is required to make a good faith effort, as defined in RCW 70.94.534(2) and this chapter, to develop and implement a CTR program that will encourage its employees to reduce VMT per employee and drive-alone commute trips. The employer shall submit a description of its program to the City of Redmond and provide an annual progress report to the City on employee commuting and progress toward meeting the goals. The CTR program must include the elements described below in subsections A and B of this section.
A. The CTR Program Description. Affected employers shall review their program and file a regular annual progress report with the City in accordance with the format provided by the City. Strategies may be undertaken by an employer to achieve the commute trip reduction goals for the reporting period. Employers are encouraged to consider innovative strategies and combine program elements in a manner that will best suit their location, site characteristics, business type, and employees’ commuting needs. Employers are further encouraged to cooperate with each other and to form or use transportation management organizations in developing and implementing CTR programs. At a minimum, the employer’s description must include:
1. General description of the employment site location, transportation characteristics, and surrounding services, including unique conditions experienced by the employer or its employees;
2. Number of employees affected by the CTR program; and total number of employees per site;
3. Documentation of compliance with the mandatory CTR program elements (as described in subsection B of this section);
4. Description of the additional elements included in the CTR program (as described in subsection B of this section); and
5. A statement of organizational commitment to provide appropriate resources to the program to meet the employer’s established goals.
B. Mandatory Program Elements. Each employer’s CTR program shall include the following mandatory elements:
1. Employee Transportation Coordinator (ETC). The employer shall designate an ETC to administer the CTR program. The ETC and/or designee’s name, location, and telephone number must be prominently displayed physically or electronically at each affected worksite. The ETC shall oversee all elements of the employer’s CTR program and act as liaison between the employer and the City of Redmond. An affected employer with multiple sites may have one transportation coordinator for all sites. A transportation coordinator does not need to be an employee of the affected employer.
2. Information Distribution. Information about alternatives to drive-alone commuting shall be provided to employees at least once a year. This shall consist of, at a minimum, a summary of the employer’s program, including ETC name and phone number. Employers must also provide a summary of their program to all new employees at the time of hire. Employers shall also provide for continuous information distribution through a transportation information center to be maintained in each worksite building used by fifty (50) or more affected employees. Each employer’s program description and annual report must describe what information is to be distributed by the employer and the method of distribution. The summary of the employer’s CTR program shall also be submitted to the City with the employer’s program description and regular report annually.
3. Annual Progress Report. The CTR program must include an annual review of employee commuting, progress and good faith efforts toward meeting the SOV reduction goals. Affected employers shall file an annual progress report to the City by November 1st of each year. The report shall describe each of the CTR measures that were in effect for the previous year, the results of any commuter surveys undertaken during the year, and the number of employees participating in CTR programs. Within the report, the employer should evaluate the effectiveness of the CTR program and, if necessary, propose modifications to achieve the CTR goals. Survey information or approved alternative information must be provided in the data from the State of Washington Commute Trip Reduction Employee Questionnaire with a minimum seventy (70) percent response rate, or approved alternative information shall be required. The format of the reports shall be provided by the City.
4. Record Keeping. Affected employers shall maintain a copy of their approved CTR Program Description and Report, their CTR Program Employee Questionnaire results, and all supporting documentation for the descriptions and assertions made in any CTR report to the City for a minimum of 48 months. The City and the employer shall agree on the record keeping requirements as part of the accepted CTR program.
5. Transportation Demand Management Elements. In addition to the specific program elements described above, the employer’s CTR program shall include sufficient additional elements as needed to meet CTR goals. Elements may include, but are not limited to, the following:
a. Provision of preferential parking for high-occupancy vehicles which is signed, monitored, and enforced;
b. Reduced parking charges for high-occupancy vehicles;
c. Instituting or increasing parking charges for drive-alone commuters;
d. Provision of commuter ride matching services to facilitate employee ridesharing for commute trips;
e. Provision of subsidies for rail, transit, or vanpool fares and/or transit passes;
f. Provision of subsidies for carpools, walking, bicycling, teleworking, or compressed schedules;
g. Provision of incentives for employees that do not drive alone to work;
h. Permitting the use of the employer’s vehicles for carpooling or vanpooling;
i. Permitting flexible work schedules to facilitate employees’ use of transit, carpools, or vanpools;
j. Cooperation with transportation providers to provide additional regular or express service to the worksite;
k. Construction of special loading and unloading facilities for transit, carpool, and vanpool users;
l. Provision of bicycle parking facilities, lockers, changing areas, and showers for employees who bicycle or walk to work;
m. Provision of a program of parking incentives such as a rebate for employees who do not use the parking facilities;
n. Establishment of a program to permit employees to work part- or full-time at home or at an alternative worksite closer to their homes which reduces commute trips;
o. Establishment of a program of alternative work schedules, such as a compressed work week, which reduces commute trips;
p. Establishment of a program of telecommuting which permits affected employees to work at home or at an alternative worksite closer to their home;
q. Implementation of other measures designed to facilitate the use of high-occupancy vehicles, such as on-site day care facilities, emergency taxi services, or guaranteed ride home programs;
r. Charging employees for parking, and/or the elimination of free parking;
s. Other measures that the employer believes will reduce the number and length of commute trips made to the site;
t. Participation in a Transportation Management Association (TMA); and
u. Participation in a city-sponsored Commute Program. (Ord. 2546 § 2 (part), 2010: Ord. 2420 § 3 (part), 2008).