Residents, employers awarded for cleaning air

Agency News

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Susan Tierney Public Information Officer 602.262.4668 stierney@valleymetro.org

Tara LaBouff R&R Partners 480.371.6064 / 602.670.7121 tara.labouff@rrpartners.com

PHOENIX (October 28, 2008) – Valley Metro, the regional public transportation and rideshare agency, awarded 29 organizations and individuals in the Valley for their commitment to improving air quality in metropolitan Phoenix during today’s 2008 Clean Air Campaign Awards luncheon at the Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa.

Enter the Clean Air Campaign Awards Luncheon Photo Gallery Here

Now in its 21st year, the annual awards acknowledge exceptional commuters, effective workplace trip-reduction programs, outstanding transportation coordinators, creative trip-reduction marketing, and other exceptional advocates of reduced traffic congestion and improved air quality. A highlight is the Maricopa Association of Governments Livable Communities award, which recognizes street, pedestrian or other projects that enhance our communities.

“These individuals and employers are being awarded today because they have chosen to take responsibility for creating a better environment for all of us,” said David A. Boggs. “We can all learn from these actions especially as we enter another difficult time of year when air quality is a frequent concern.”

Winners included transit coordinators responsible for motivating their colleagues to share the ride to work; municipal city programs that promote various alternative forms of transportation to staff and residents; private corporations and more. Winners of this year’s Clean Air Campaign Awards are:

INDIVIDUAL COMMUTER AWARDS

Outstanding Bicyclist or Walker (TIE)
Michael Maynard, State of Arizona Department of Corrections, Phoenix: bicycles 32 miles each way for a three-hour commute to the far southwest Valley.

Jessica Kauspedas, Coo & Van Loo, Phoenix: bicycles 26 miles round-trip to work each day, which also allows her to ride through company properties and take photos—even cycling 200 miles in a single day to photograph recent home construction.

Ryan Schmitz, Take Charge America, Phoenix: motivated to create a better environment for his children and has bicycled to work every day for the past five years—riding to school with his son in the morning then traveling on to work.

Outstanding Bus Rider
Nancy Fountain, Maricopa County Air Quality Department, Phoenix:  began riding the bus daily when she lost her carpool partner and now commutes 37 miles each way between work and Apache Junction—keeping more than 1,151 pounds of pollution from the air so far this year

Outstanding Vanpooler
Rhonda Rapp, Scottsdale Healthcare, Scottsdale: helps her fellow vanpoolers by voluntarily figuring gas costs for the group, collecting rider fares, and tracking riders so all seats are filled at all times, plus keeps the group entertained with daily trivia during the morning commute

Outstanding Carpooler
Don Sandoval, Town of Paradise Valley: this long-time city employee has carpooled 223 days from July 2007 – June 2008, which saves him money on gas and also provides him a $2-4 daily reward from his employer

Outstanding Multi-Modal Commuter
Nathaniel Wooden, IKEA, Tempe: Gave up his car after losing his wife and incurring mounting debt, and has found that taking the bus in combination with bicycling part way to work allows him to reflect on life, meet new people, enjoy music along the way and relax

EMPLOYER PROGRAM AWARDS

Outstanding Trip Reduction Program (50 – 149 Employees)
Computer Guidance Corporation, Scottsdale: encouraged 46 percent of staff to carpool, ride the bus or telecommute—saving nearly 2,400 trips from being made with just one person in the vehicle; and has reached out to neighboring businesses to do the same

Outstanding Trip Reduction Program (150-499 Employees)
Dolphin, Inc., Phoenix: more than 40 percent of staff share the ride instead of driving alone by offering a 100 percent bus subsidy, walk/bike subsidies of $5 per day, prize drawings and free days off for those who “rideshare” for 90 days or more

Outstanding Trip Reduction Program (500+ Employees – Public)
City of Peoria: developed a ‘Green Team’ to focus attention on enviro-friendly commuting, recycling, energy and water conservation as well as asking employees to eliminate lunchtime commuting, carpool and use alt-fuel vehicles

Outstanding Trip Reduction Program (500+ Employees – Private)
Scottsdale Healthcare, Scottsdale: Offers shower facilities and bike lockers, preferred parking for carpools and vanpools, intercampus shuttles, 100 percent bus and vanpool subsidies, flex work schedules and more to help employees drive less alone

Outstanding Bike Program – Public
City of Phoenix: hosted a State Championship Bicycling Criterium race, Bike to Work & School Day, and completed a three-mile extension to the 15th Avenue bike lane

Outstanding Bike Program – Private
Scottsdale Healthcare, Scottsdale: offers employees bike lockers, showers and racks; personalized assistance in bike route planning and a guaranteed ride home incentive

Outstanding Vanpool Program
Mayo Clinic Arizona, Scottsdale: decided to subsidize 100 percent of employee vanpool and added 20 vans to its program, then added another 27 as gas prices hit an all-time high

Outstanding Transportation Coordinator (50-149 Employees)
Zoe Long, Computer Guidance Corp., Scottsdale: staff participation in alternative transportation increased from 33 percent to 47 percent through monthly, themed promotions and new employee orientations about the transit options available to them

Outstanding Transportation Coordinator (150- 499 Employees)
Darlene Stogner, Bechtel Corp., Glendale: developed a Microsoft SharePoint Web site with no prior experience to provide detailed transit information to staff, thereby decreasing the employee drive-alone rate by 27 percent

Outstanding Transportation Coordinator (500+ Employees – Public)
Rhianna Encizo, City of Glendale: promotes the ‘green’ benefits of shared transportation to employees and the public through the City’s “Travel Green” campaign, prize drawings for those who share the ride, and more

Outstanding Transportation Coordinator (500+ Employees – Private)
Michelle Lue, Best Western International, Phoenix: increased employee participation in alternative transportation use from 149 to 204 participants in just six months through employee orientations, newsletters, and more

Outstanding Leadership
Tom Sadvary, President and Chief Executive, Scottsdale Healthcare, Scottsdale: commits $100,000 annually to support free public transportation options for staff and created a transportation task force as gas costs became a concern for his employees

Outstanding Site Coordinator
Rebeckah White, City of Phoenix – Police Dept.: increased the number of completed Trip Reduction Surveys by rallying the force to better understand the importance of shared commuting on the environment

Outstanding Marketing & Creativity – Electronic Media
Scottsdale Healthcare, Scottsdale: developed a dedicated Web site with a unique URL that employees can access from home to help them share the ride with colleagues, plan days on a calendar, track transportation costs and more

Outstanding Marketing & Creativity – Print Media
Maricopa County, Phoenix: designed a special poster—rather than send staff more e-mails and voicemails – with icons to show all commuter options available in a humorous, easy-to-read way

Outstanding Marketing & Creativity – Event under $500
ING, Scottsdale: provided a week of awareness events surrounding Earth Day, addressing carpooling, recycling and more in conjunction with students at Connolly Middle School

Outstanding Marketing & Creativity – Event over $500
SRP, Phoenix: held a Dr. Seuss-themed campaign complete with light pole banners, pens, notepads, mugs and bubble gum to remind employees about sharing the ride, and doubled bus ridership, filled 130 carpool spaces, and increased demand for vanpooling

OTHER AWARDS

Media Partner - Broadcast
KPNX-TV, NBC 12: conducted a week-long special in May called “Conquering the Commute,” which explained the benefits of alt-fuel vehicles, how vanpooling programs work, and interviewing bicycle commuters and requiring the 12 News Today anchor team to share the ride for a day

Media Partner – Print
The Scottsdale Republic: covered the expansion and unique promotion of new bus service in Scottsdale, as well as regularly informing readers Valleywide about traffic and road alerts, and community transportation forums in their area

People’s Choice Bulletin Board
ABC Nissan, Phoenix: The color and creativity of their workplace bulletin board for employees made it a favorite by 17 percent of online voters. Their bulletin board displays a variety of information to help employees find a carpool buddy, learn about air quality, and see prize drawing winners.

Maricopa Association of Governments, Livable Communities
City of Tempe, Tempe In Motion (TIM): has expanded alternative transportation options throughout the past 12 years to help residents drive less alone, including free neighborhood circulators, more bikeways, and pedestrian paths. Also built two LEED-certified municipal buildings and established an alt-fuel city vehicle fleet

Blue Sky Award
City of Goodyear and West Valley Hospital: partnered to help more commuters drive less alone through a donation of land from West Valley Hospital to the city for use as a temporary park-and-ride lot. Since opening in July, it is regularly filled with commuters parking who meet an express bus route, carpools and vanpools.

Sponsored by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, the Arizona Department of Transportation, Maricopa Association of Governments, Maricopa County and Valley Metro/RPTA.  Additional sponsorships provided by the Association for Commuter Transportation (ACT), Bank of America, Fry’s and Fry’s Marketplace, IKEA, ING, Mayo Clinic, Northern Trust, Scottsdale Healthcare, Southwest Gas, SRP, Sunset Ford, VPSI, Inc., and Wal-Mart.

Valley Metro/RPTA is an organization of 14 local governments that provides or funds transit services to citizens in the greater Phoenix metropolitan and surrounding areas. For more information about Valley Metro public transit services, call Transit Information at (602) 253-5000; for callers with TTY (602) 261-8208; or visit the Valley Metro website at www.ValleyMetro.org.
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