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Commuter Services Provides Employers Access to Transportation Resources as a Workforce Development Strategy

As we continue to navigate the pandemic, workforce development has become an important topic of discussion as employers compete to fill open positions.  Transportation is one of the major barriers faced by individuals seeking work, and Commuter Services can be a vital tool to help provide transportation resources to both employers and employees.

 

Commuter Services and Employer Partnerships

Commuter Services is an initiative that was established over 15 years ago to help reduce traffic congestion and improve the local air quality by providing options for the work commute, other than driving alone.  Our services are available to employers within Adams, Berks, Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Lancaster, Lebanon, Perry, and York counties as well as commuters who live or work within one of those nine counties.  Employers recognize how the commute to work can create effects, both negative and positive, to the job performance of their employees.  If an employee does not have a reliable way to get to work, this creates a negative impact on their job search, as well as on the employers looking to hire.  Employers who take steps to create positive commute experiences will reap the financial benefits and have greater employee retention.

Employees who arrive at work with a stress-free attitude are more productive and willing to go the extra mile for their employer.  Traffic congestion, tolls, endless wait times at traffic lights and unreliable transportation add stress and expense to an employee’s daily travel.  Commuter Services is able to help employers by providing FREE services that aid their employees in the search for a better commute and therefore a longer, more productive tenure with their place of business.

 

Commuter Services: Commuter Programs

Our staff will listen to the employer needs and then structure a program that works best to get their employees into a more cost-efficient mode of transportation.  Some options we can customize to their specific location and employees include:

  • Carpool and Vanpool Programs – Employees can cut their commute costs up to 50% by sharing a ride in a carpool or vanpool. In turn, employers may find advantages from supporting rideshare efforts, by reducing their investments in expensive parking infrastructure costs or providing solutions to those seeking employment.
  • Transit Information Services – Transit offers a reliable mode of transportation at a very economical cost. Employers can support employees’ use of transit by making transit passes available for purchase at the worksite; offering pre-tax benefits; or coordinating with the transit agencies to assure bus stops are convenient to the worksite.
  • Bicycling and Walking Resources – Biking and walking to work are great options that can significantly reduce employees’ commuting costs while offering an opportunity for regular exercise. Employers can encourage biking and/or walking to work by offering convenient bike racks, lockers, and/or shower facilities.

Online Ridematching: Commute PA

Through our customized rideshare and rewards program, Commute PA, commuters can find carpool or vanpool arrangements.  This program can be accessed via the Commute PA app on Android and Apple or directly from our website – PaCommuterServices.org.  Employees can use this program to locate potential rideshare partners.  Commute PA will geographically match commuters’ starting and ending locations with the commuters’ work hours, to help form convenient, workable carpool and vanpool arrangements among people with the same travel needs.  The program is a valuable tool for those looking to cut down on their commuting costs as well as bridge the gap for those needing transportation for work.

Commuters can connect directly with others that have similar travel patterns and reach out to start a carpool.  For employers, this resource can provide options to those that need transportation assistance and at the same time help current employees find more efficient ways to get to work.  In addition to finding rideshare matches, employees have access to resources for biking, walking, and taking transit.  Once a commuter starts using a green mode (carpool, vanpool, telework, bike, walk or transit), they are able to record those trips and earn rewards, which is just an added incentive to enroll in Commute PA.

 

Emergency Ride Home Program

Many people think, “I’d like to carpool or ride the bus to work, but what happens if I get sick during the day, or the person I rode with has to leave for some reason?  What if my child gets sick at school and I don’t have my car?  What if I’m asked to stay late for unexpected overtime?”

Commuter Services knows that these concerns can cause many people to think they need their car every day “just in case.”  To help with this concern, we have an Emergency Ride Home program.  This program is for anyone who uses a green mode for work, is enrolled in Commute PA, and is recording their trips.  Eligible commuters can receive a reimbursement for an emergency ride up to 6 time a year.

 

Next Steps

As you look to develop your individual workforce development strategies, Commuter Services of PA can help provide resources and solutions to your employees.  These strategies may involve starting a preferential carpool parking program, developing a telework policy or providing transit pass subsidies to employees that want to commute by bus.  To learn more about how we can help provide transportation options to your employees, please email us at customer.service@pacommuterservices.org or visit www.PaCommuterServices.org for more information.

PA Chamber joins Letter on Infrastructure Plan

Modern, safe, efficient, and reliable infrastructure systems are a pillar of the PA Chamber’s Legislative Agenda.  These systems, from roads and bridges to telecommunications and utilities, provide the basis on which businesses contribute to the commonwealth’s economy and are a critical component to attracting investment and innovation.

As deliberations on a bipartisan federal infrastructure bill have continued, the PA Chamber joined with the U.S. Chamber and organizations from across the country to encourage lawmakers to reach agreement for the sake of businesses and the American people.  The letter urged legislators to prioritize investments in national infrastructure improvement, showing our support for funding that invests in and modernizes crumbling roads, bridges, railways, water and energy infrastructure, and increases access to broadband.  These improvements, we point out, would boost America’s productivity, global competitiveness and quality of life.

In total, 225 organizations signed the letter—which was sent to negotiators just before the Senate advanced the bipartisan compromise legislation in a vote of 67-32.

Federal Infrastructure Bill Stalls in Senate

Discussions around a federal infrastructure bill are heating up, with both parties taking issue with the process unfolding in the U.S. Senate.  As talks continue, the PA Chamber joined a coalition of local chambers, statewide organizations and businesses urging Senators Toomey and Casey to request action on reauthorization of federal funding for surface transportation for roads and bridges, which will expire at the end of September, as well as reforms to environmental review requirements.

With respect to ongoing deliberations over spending frameworks, Democrats have sought to advance a roughly $1.2T bipartisan infrastructure package in tandem with a $3.5T budget resolution that includes several policy and spending priorities outlined by President Biden on the campaign trail.  Total spending on both bills is expected to top $4.7T.

Last week, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (NY) sought to advance a placeholder infrastructure bill which would later be amended with the text of an infrastructure compromise.  Republicans have objected to moving forward before the bill text is available, and senators expect to produce the draft text in the coming days.  The procedural vote failed after facing unified Republican opposition.

Key progressive lawmakers in both chambers are vowing to push ahead without Republican support should the bipartisan infrastructure plan not advance.  Senator Tim Kaine (VA) has advocated for ballooning the budget resolution and using the reconciliation process to authorize the spending on a purely party-line vote.  Sen. Bernie Sanders (VT), chair of the Senate Budget Committee, agreed, noting, “…you can do it in the bipartisan bill, or you can combine it with one bill. One way or another, it’s going to happen.”

The House is expected to return in August to vote on both the budget resolution and the bipartisan infrastructure package, should one be passed.

SCOTUS backs PennEast in Critical Infrastructure Permitting Decision

On June 29, in one of its final decisions handed down for the term, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in PennEast Pipeline v. New Jersey, a case involving whether New Jersey could deny a right of way on state-owned lands to a federally-permitted pipeline needing construction access. In a win for the project and more broadly for infrastructure development and permitting certainty, the Court ruled 5-4 that the Natural Gas Act authorizes the use of eminent domain to acquire necessary rights-of-way for approved projects.

The PA Chamber joined the U.S. Chamber to file an amicus brief supporting PennEast and the project, which represents a $1 billion investment and will deliver gas from northeast Pennsylvania to southeast Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Both business groups hailed the decision in a statement, with PA Chamber President and CEO Gene Barr noting that “infrastructure build-out, including energy transmission projects like PennEast, is paramount to Pennsylvania’s sustained vitality and the economic opportunity available to its citizens.”

The majority included a mix of Democratic and Republican appointees, with Chief Justice Roberts writing the opinion, joined by Justices Breyer, Alito, Sotomayor and Kavanaugh. The majority rejected the argument made by the state of New Jersey that the Eleventh Amendment provides sovereign immunity, preventing the builder from suing for access to the state-owned lands along the route. The Court found that without Congress providing an effective mechanism for approved projects to proceed with construction (on public or private lands), the federal permitting process wouldn’t be valid. The decision allows the project, which the PA Chamber has supported throughout its planning and application process, to move forward.