Friday, May 15, 2004

Cash for Commuters to encourage carpooling, other options Beginning this month, The Clean Air Campaign® will once again begin paying metro Atlantans to make a change in their commutes. Cash for Commuters, an incentive program open to commuters who live or work in the 13-county metro Atlanta area, has proven to be effective in encouraging individuals to get to work by some means other than driving alone. In the first two years of Cash for Commuters, nearly 8.000 individuals signed up to give commute alternatives a try. By trading in their single-occupancy vehicle for a commute alternative such as transit, carpooling or teleworking, these commuters eliminated more than seven million vehicle miles from metro Atlanta roads. “The good news is that research shows this is just the beginning of a long-term change in behavior,” said Ellen Macht, executive director of The Clean Air Campaign. “Cash for Commuters has proven that money is a great motivator, and we are glad to bring it back for a third year so that even more metro Atlanta commuters can give it a try.” The first two years of Cash for Commuters elicited 7,894 applications with 5,751 being activated. A survey of Cash for Commuters participants prepared by the Center for Transportation and the Environment on behalf of the Georgia Department of Transportation, indicated that 45 percent of respondents cited the $3 per day program as a reason to start carpooling, teleworking, using transit, walking or cycling to work. More importantly, more than 71 percent of participants continue to use their commute alternative three to six months after completing the program, when no incentive is available to them. Beginning this month, metro Atlantans who agree to change their commutes from driving alone to any of a number of alternative commuting habits can earn up to $180 over a three-month period. Qualified alternatives include carpooling, transit use, teleworking, cycling or walking. The program ends September 30, 2004. To qualify, commuters must not have used an alternative commute option more than five times in the last 90 days and they must register with The Clean Air Campaign’s Cash for Commuters incentive program. Once registered, commuters earn three dollars cash for each day they use a qualified commute alternative to travel to and from work within a 90-consecutive day period (between May 1 and September 30), for a minimum of 13 days over three months. Commuters must work one or more weekdays. Weekend days qualify as long as they are part of a regular shift that includes at least one weekday. Commuters track their behavior in a Clean Air Campaign Travel Log and have a supervisor sign the completed claim form to receive their checks. Commuters must live or work in one of the following counties: Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, Coweta, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry, Paulding and Rockdale. Residents of other counties who commute to a workplace within the 13-county region are eligible to participate in Cash for Commuters. Getting started in the Cash for Commuters incentive program is simple. Interested commuters can download a registration form and Rules of Eligibility at www.cleanaircampaign.com or request a registration packet by mail by calling 1-877-CLEANAIR. Once The Clean Air Campaign receives the completed registration form, the organization will mail a travel log and claim form - with instructions - to the registrant's work address. Commuters who need help deciding which alternative is right for them can call 1-877-CLEANAIR to receive personal assistance from one of The Clean Air Campaign’s transportation specialists.