Benefits and costs associated with the WSDOT CTR program. Final research report

Washington has sought to reduce commute trips to the workplace in 9 of the state`s most populous counties. Such a reduction is sought to ameliorate congestion on the roadway, improve air quality, conserve fossil fuels, and promote environmental quality. Legislation has been in place since 1991 requiring both private and public employers of 100+ employees in those 9 counties to formulate plans for the implementation of varied incentives to encourage alternatives to single occupancy vehicle (SOV) travel. This legislation requires the WSDOT to monitor (by means of a biennial employee survey) progress toward a quite ambitious goal of a 35% reduction in SOV travel by 2005. This goal remains quite far from being met; the most recent survey-based estimate is that a 7% reduction has been achieved thus far. This study entails the use of a complex survey of employees in public and private sector organizations participating in this `commute trip reduction` (CTR) program. The questionnaire developed for this study is designed to gather information on the nature of `switchers`--that is, those employees who are indeed making use of alternatives to SOV travel to the workplace.