Seen From the Other Side

I spent years (and years and years) working on behalf of government agencies to provide TDM services to employers.  I developed new services, designed collateral and advertising campaigns, came up with all kinds of schemes to turn relocations into a trip to Disneyworld (I actually did present that once, but no bites).

Now that I have had the opportunity to experience TDM from the perspective of an employer, I have a new appreciation for…driving alone.  I have spent the last 3 months developing a parking program for a building that will eventually house 3,000 employees with a 1,200 space parking garage–but its located just 500 feet from a train and bus hub.  The employees will come from Long Island, Rockland County and New Jersey, with most travelling more than an hour to get to work.

I’ve learned that accommodating SOVs  requires as much creativity as the best transit promotion program.  Yes, a key strategy is adding capacity, but even that has its limits (and a high pricetag).  But it is also about managing traffic around the site with alternate routes and procedures to limit congestion in the garage, setting aside spaces to achieve company goals such as trip reduction and Low Emission Vehicle promotion and crafting policies and communication materials that are sensitive to the needs of folks who in many cases just can’t make public transportation work for them.

It really is a different view from the employer side.  I know I have been guilty of believing that every SOV could be removed if only the driver knew of their alternatives and their benefits.  But that’s not the case.  I have spent more than twenty years chasing down drivers who just aren’t going to change and too little time targeting my efforts to those who really, truly can make public transportation and ridesharing work.

For me, transportaton demand management is now about hyper-targeting those people who have access and providing a completely personalized customer service experience that considers their own needs and concerns.  I won’t measure my efforts on how many people stop by a table at a transportation day.  I’ll consider success to be the quality of my interaction with a commuter customer and, more important whether they changed how they commute to work based on our interaction.

Okay, its not rocket science.  But  I thought I knew how this TDM worked and I didn’t.  During my next 20 years (?) in the business I’ll reach fewer commuters, but I’ll change more daily lives for the better.

Fare Hikes? What Stimulus Package?

Is it me, or does it seem terribly ironic that MTA has to raise fares (in some cases by as much as $50 a month!) to shore up its budget (“M.T.A. Is Set to Approve Higher Fares and Service Cuts”, NY Times, March 24, 2009,  http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/24/nyregion/24mta.html?_r=1&hpw).

Public transportation brings people to jobs.  Without it, many people can’t work.  The NY metropolitan region runs on public transportation.  The concentration of people and jobs could not exist were it not for the subway, the buses and commuter rail lines.  So why, at a time when President Obama is trying to jump start the economy by investing in the nation’s transportation system, do we have to essentially “tax” the very people who make the metro region work?

After travelling in the metro area’s transportation circles for more than 20 years (as a rail commuter and a transportation professional) I suspect that there are likely to be forces up in Albany that are seeking money for suburban transit systems that are also suffering budget deficits.  MTA will surely benefit from loads of stimulus money for capital projects.  But it is the operating side that needs to be funded so towns, cities, counties, states and entire metro areas can leverage previous investment in rolling stock and infrastructure by growing ridership and increasing service.  Limiting stimulus dollars to building stuff overlooks  the benefits that a reasonably priced, responsive transit system can bring to workers–allowing them to get to work and open up more job possibilities as the commute trip is eased by good service.