THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, June 23, 1996 TAG: 9606220350
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DEBBIE MESSINA, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 118 lines
Our love affair with the automobile comes at a hefty price.
The more we drive, the more we pay in taxes to repair and build roads, the worse our air gets and the more our nerves fray as we wade through gridlock.
Still, growing numbers of area residents commute to work in their beloved cars, vans and trucks - alone.
To coax people out of their cars, transportation planners have a new program that encourages carpools, vanpools, buses and even working from home.
Large employers located in congested areas are targeted in the first phase of the $1.3 million project.
``We can relieve traffic congestion on our roadways and improve our quality of life,'' said Carol A. Russell, director of Traffix, a transportation demand management program coordinated by Tidewater Regional Transit and PENTRAN.
If nothing is done to improve road conditions or reduce traffic, Hampton Roads motorists could within 10 years face traffic gridlock that rivals Northern Virginia's, where the average highway speed is 10 mph.
Transportation officials admit that ridesharing is not for everyone, but the benefits are huge. Studies show a 10 percent reduction in the number of cars on the road can mean up to a 50 percent reduction in traffic delays.
``There are different ways of doing that,'' said Dwight L. Farmer, transportation director for the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission. ``You can have 10 percent of the people carpool every day. Or you could have everyone carpool once every 10 days.
``Either way, it accomplishes the same thing.''
The planning commission said that in 1990, 85 percent of commuters drove solo to work. That's up from 1980, when 75 percent drove alone.
``We're going the wrong way,'' Farmer said. ``Everyone wants hyper-mobility. They want to be able to go everywhere, when they want, as often as they want.''
But there are other benefits of hitching a ride and sacrificing mobility: lower gasoline costs, less wear on vehicles and lower car insurance rates.
Traffix services, which are free, include:
Employee surveys on commuting habits and needs.
Computer databases that link employees who live nearby and have similar schedules for ridesharing or vanpooling.
A discounted van leasing program.
A ``guaranteed ride'' program that provides ridesharers who must leave work early or late with taxi ride home for just $1.50. The program subsidizes the rest.
Coordinating bus service to employment hubs, when possible.
Traffix also encourages employers to minimize the time workers spend on the road and to get them off the highways at peak hours.
For example, employers are urged to try telecommuting - allowing some employees to work from home, occasionally. Employers can also institute compressed work weeks - four 10-hour days instead of five 8-hour days. And by staggering work hours to ease traffic congestion.
Companies that participate in Traffix programs are eligible for Commuter Checks, vouchers of up to $65 a month to defray employees' commuting costs. Commuter checks are tax deductible for employers and tax-free for employees.
Lillian Vernon in Virginia Beach is one of the first companies to work with the Traffix program.
``Getting to work is pretty important,'' said Chip Sharkey, vice president of human resources. ``Some people can't get to work unless they have alternative transportation means.''
Lillian Vernon, a catalogue retailer whose work force of about 900 swells to about 3,500 before Christmas, has designated preferential parking to employees who carpool.
``This provides benefits to the company, benefits to our employees and benefits to our community,'' said Laura Kellard, Lillian Vernon human resources representative.
At APAC in Newport News, company officials are looking at Traffix programs to help ease a parking crunch. APAC, a telecommunications management company, has 1,200 employees and 1,000 parking spaces.
``This can help us with an immediate parking problem at the facility and a parking relations problem with some of our neighbors,'' said Mark Armstrong, employee relations manager.
Armstrong said he also also sees carpooling as a more reliable method of getting employees to work safely and on time.
``In the long term, we see benefits to the overall environment,'' he said. ``It will cut down on the number of cars and congestion and pollution.'' MEMO: For more information about Traffix or ridesharing, call
1-800-700-RIDE. ILLUSTRATION: [B & W Photos]
Downtown Tunnel
Military Highway
Interstate 264 (Norfolk)
Independence Blvd.
ROADS WELL TRAVELED:
Average daily trips
In 1995 In 2015
Mid-town Tunnel 34,600 60,000
Downtown Tunnel 77,200 94,400
Interstate 64 (Norfolk) 130,000 170,000
Interstate 264 (Norfolk) 124,200 170,000
Brambleton Avenue 44,000 74,600
Terminal Boulevard 26,400 42,000
Military Highway
(near Interstate 264) 43,350 90,000
Interstate 264 (Portsmouth) 54,500 96,000
Interstate 64 (Chesapeake) 85,700 149,300
Dominion Blvd. 36,400 94,400
Battlefield Blvd. 69,200 84,100
Greenbriar Parkway 51,100 77,400
Bridge Road (Suffolk) 12,300 82,500
Interstate 664 (Suffolk) 32,800 77,000
Route 44 (Virginia Beach) 165,000 191,000
General Booth Boulevard 50,300 83,800
Kempsville Road (near 17,000 70,000
Centerville Turnpike)
Independence Blvd. 63,700 102,000
Indian River Road (near 68,400 95,000
Centerville turnpike)
Ferrell Parkway 27,500 58,000
Source: Hampton Roads Planning District Commission by CNB