[HISTORY: Adopted by the Rockland County Legislature 3-18-1997
by Res. No. 109-1997. Amendments noted where applicable.]
A.
Lead agencies: Rockland County Departments of Planning
and Public Transportation.
B.
Duration: January 1, 1997 to March 31, 1998.
C.
Estimated cost: $120,000 ($96,000 federal, $24,000 matched).
D.
Legislative intent.
(1)
This work program is designed to continue the County's
successful efforts to implement the Employer Commute Options (ECO) Program.
It will be replaced by the voluntary Travel Demand Management Program, a.k.a.,
the TDM Program. The federal mandate to pursue the regulatory aspects of the
program has been repealed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA), thus allowing individual states to make the program voluntary. New
York State followed suit on September 4, 1996.
(2)
The prevailing viewpoint in making the program voluntary
was that the ECO Program singled out major employers in such a way that they
assumed the costs of implementing many of the measures meant to benefit society
as a whole.
(3)
The County has had a positive experience with employers
while administering the ECO Program and is committed to providing continued
travel demand management services. Of the 98 worksites affected by the program,
all registered with the Department of Planning, and 96 submitted plans detailing
how they were going to achieve the goal of reducing the number of trips made
in single-occupant vehicles (SOV's). Even considering the lack of a federal
mandate, many employers have continued to implement their plans and keep in
contact with the Planning Department. Some employers are prepared to resurvey
their work force even with the news that the ECO Program was going to become
voluntary.
(4)
The working relationships this Department fostered with
state agencies, transportation providers (including car pool and van pool
service providers) and the affected employers enabled us all to realize that,
if implemented well, companies can present TDM policies as an employee benefit;
for example, providing Transit Chek enables an employee to receive a tax-free
subsidy to use transit.
(5)
In addition, this work program will address the issue
of increased marketing of transit for intracounty and commuter trips. Rockland
County contracts out the operation of the Transport of Rockland (TOR) bus
system. It is composed of five intracounty routes and one commuter route that
takes passengers across the Tappan Zee Bridge into Westchester County. This
route, the Tappan Zee Express, enables passengers to transfer to the Metro
North Railroad and to Westchester County's Bee-Line Bus and Van system.
(6)
In addition to the T-Z Express, private bus operators
have commuter routes that take passengers into Northern New Jersey, New York
City, and Long Island (Rockland Coaches Red and Tan Lines, Shortline, Monsey/New
Square Trails).
(7)
Rockland County also has rail access into New York City
via metropolitan New Jersey on Metro North service operated by New Jersey
Transit. There are plans to increase rail access in the coming years. They
include:
(a)
Plans to increase capacity and improve access to the
New York City central business district through restoration of passenger service
on the former West Shore rail line.
(b)
Plans to provide a more direct connection to New York
City's Penn Station terminal under current Metro-North Commuter Railroad/New
Jersey Transit service via the Secaucus Transfer Station.
(c)
Plans to initiate ferry service originating in Rockland
County across the Hudson River (connecting to Metro North service), and/or
down to New York City.
A.
The objective of the Travel Demand Management Program
is similar to that of the ECO Program: to reduce the number of single occupant
vehicles (SOV's) on Rockland County's roadways. In addition, the
TDM Program will focus more on promoting all forms of transit, car pools and
van pools, and telecommuting. The main focus of the program will be on employers,
but the program will be voluntary in nature. As this program is designed to
reduce congestion, an underlying objective is to change the commuting habits
of employees by educating them on the commute options available and how to
take advantage of them.
B.
New TDM activities will also focus on the origin of the
work trip. Our intent is to approach cooperative and condominium boards to
conduct an equivalent of a transportation day at a worksite, to inform residents
of the transit services nearby, car pools and van pools, and to provide ride-matching
assistance. This is a new and exciting direction that will bear positive results
with respect to getting people out of their cars.
The administration of the work program will be under the direction of
the Associate Planner (Transportation). The ECO Coordinator/TDM Manager will
handle the day-to-day management of the program.
A.
Task 1.0, Employer Outreach: to introduce employers to
the County's new voluntary TDM program.
B.
Task 2.0, Worksite.
(1)
A member of the TDM team will visit the worksites of
participating employers to work with their designated staff to prepare a transportation
profile of the site and provide specific recommendations consisting of appropriate
alternative commute options and support strategies to reduce the number of
SOV'S. The profile will include a listing of transportation services
available to the site, as well as site-specific recommendations.
(2)
In addition, the staff person will be able to provide
technical support for surveying the employee population (the tabulation will
be the responsibility of the employer) and/or computer database ride matching.
(3)
Estimated cost: $12,000.
C.
Task 3.0, Implementation Support for Employers.
(1)
This will amount to a guide of products and services
for the various commute options:
(a)
On-site transportation days to provide employees with
an overview of the different commute alternatives. The TDM unit will play
a central role in coordinating and organizing these events for employers and
will include presentations by private transportation providers and car and
van pool service providers.
(b)
Arrange for technical assistance from service agencies
for Guaranteed Ride Home programs, car/van pool programs, telecommuting, etc.
(c)
Arrange for technical assistance to complete applications
for outside funding of projects, i.e., NYSDOT's Innovative Mobility Demonstration
grants.
(d)
Expand the subject matter of the Rockland County ECO
Newsletter to highlight the activities of participating Rockland businesses
with the purpose of acting as an informational resource and recruiting tool.
Moreover, arrange for its distribution through the Rockland Business Association
(RBA) and/or Rockland Economic Development Council (REDC).
(2)
Estimated cost: $6,000.
D.
Task 4.0, Development of Sub-Area Employee Transportation
Coordinator Networks.
E.
Task 4.1, Shuttle Service Planning and Regional Systems
Coordination.
(1)
Rockland County's major employers are located in
groups or clusters. This is demonstrated graphically on the County's
GIS Major Employer Map.
(a)
To organize employers within designated clusters (previously
identified) to determine the feasibility of and demand for shuttle service
from the worksite to major transit stops and midday service to local area
shopping centers. The employer database will be used to identify customer
service needs and target markets for potential services.
(b)
To work with employers, transit providers and NYSDOT
Region 8 TDM Unit, once demand for shuttle service has been determined, to
develop such a service.
(c)
To work with private and public operators to coordinate
regional services such as the OWL and Metro-North's Port Jervis Line
with existing local services. We will assist in the coordination of these
services to encourage employees who work outside of Rockland to use an alternative
mode to commute to work.
(2)
Estimated cost: $9,000.
F.
Task 5.0, Development of Residential Clusters: identifying
residential clusters (co-ops, condo development and apartment complexes) with
established organizational structures to approach with TDM presentations similar
to those given at transportation days for employers.
G.
Task 6.0, TDM Marketing.
(1)
The tasks outlined below are designed to encourage commuters
in single occupant vehicles (SOV's) to switch to some form of transit,
carpool or vanpool.
(a)
To extend the marketing activities of the Department
of Public Transportation to include all forms of transit (public and private)
and other TDM services (car/van pools, telecommuting, etc.).
(b)
To increase transit use by expanding the opportunities
for the purchase of TOR SuperSaver tickets, Unitickets, and TranistChek. This
task requires that we utilize the database from the ECO Program to identify
employers interested in selling passes on site.
(c)
Moreover, the above task requires that the TDM unit develop
a control system for the shipping and handling of the discount tickets as
well as fulfilling renewal orders. As new employers enroll into the voluntary
TDM Program, they will be asked to sell on-site transit discount passes.
(d)
To develop advertising campaigns suitable for the print
and radio media with the goal of introducing the County's new TDM policies
and to promote all forms of transit, car pools and van pools.
(2)
Estimated cost: $24,000.
H.
Task 7.0, On-line Information.
(1)
Rockland County has an established presence on the Internet
via a World Wide Web page that gives constituents up-to-date information on
County government activities. The County web page address is http://www.rcknet.com/rocklandny.
(2)
The purpose of this task is to enhance the transportation
section of the web page with information on the County's TDM policies
and its public transportation network, including private transit operators
and TDM service providers. All transit operators will be asked to contribute
maps, schedule and routing, and ticketing information in digital format to
include on the page. Hypertext links will be made to those transit/service
agencies that already have a presence on the Internet.
(3)
Estimated cost: $6,000.
I.
Task 8.0, Technical support activities: to build upon
and maintain the database management system developed under the ECO Program
in Rockland County.
J.
Task 9.0, Regional Park and Ride Lot Planning:
(1)
The Departments of Planning and Public Transportation
are currently seeking park-and-ride facilities within the County in accordance
with the Park and Ride Lot Master Plan. However, employer data indicates that
a great number of employees commute from outside Rockland, especially from
Orange County.
(2)
This work program will, for the first time, address the
issue of park-and-ride facilities outside of Rockland County. The data that
was generated by employer's worksite surveys suggests that markets for
park-and-ride facilities exists to the north and west of Rockland County.
Employee Transit Coordinators have also contacted the Planning Department
as to the availability of these facilities in order to set up company van
pools. Our goal is to work with employers that already have identified groups
who would car pool and van pool if these facilities existed and to work with
our colleagues in the jurisdictions that would facilitate the use of existing
facilities and/or plan to host new ones.
(3)
Sub tasks:
(a)
To work with employers that have identified clusters
of employees residing outside of the County to help identify park-and-ride
facilities for employer-sponsored car pools and van pools.
(b)
The TDM unit will contact its counterparts in the municipality
where the demand exists to find information about facilities that already
exist that could be used.
(c)
If facilities do not exist, this unit works with its
counterparts in the municipal NYSDOT and the employers to develop alternative
arrangements within existing facilities (churches, shopping centers, etc.),
when possible, or site a new lot.
(4)
Estimated cost: $12,000.
K.
Task 10.0, Program Administration.
