Employer Info
Employers can be leaders in sustainability while boosting employee recruitment and satisfaction by encouraging employees to use alternatives to driving alone to work. Here are 3 things you can do right now:
Weigh the most appropriate commute options and programs for your employees based on their work location and commute pattern.
- The Employer Commute Program Toolkit can take you through the steps to get started and consider program elements that are available in Sonoma County.
- the Spare the Air Employer Program has a wide array of regional resources for commuting. Register to stay up to date on how businesses are helping to Spare the Air and receive clean commute alerts, a quarterly newsletter and other announcements.
- The Bay Area Commuter Benefits Program through 511.org, can guide you through compliance requirements for employers with 50 or more employees. Employers with less than 50 Bay Area employees may also be subject to a local commuter benefits ordinance.
Sonoma County employers can use are a variety of incentives offered by different public and private organizations. Bay Area Commute Tips has the full list. A few highlights are:
- 511’s Vanpool and carpool incentives can encourage individuals to find matches and ride together.
- SMART offers an Eco-Pass program for employers to purchase train tickets in bulk at a discount.
- For Santa Rosa employers – participate in the Santa Rosa Free Ride program for monthly contests for employees and free emergency ride home option.
- Become a bike friendly business and encourage employees to ride their bikes.
3. Offer Encouragement
Here are some local programs that could help encourage your employees to give something a try:
- The Emergency Ride Home program takes the worry out of using shared or alternative modes to commute to work by reimbursing rides home in cases of a qualifying emergencies. Share the How to Use Emergency Ride Home with your employees.
- The County of Sonoma’s One Day Clean Commute encourages employees to give it a try, just one day a week.
- Participating in Bike to Work day (in May) is a great way to give all your employees a chance to try out a bike commute. There is also a Team bike challenge which can motivate a group of employees to start biking.
- Let employees know that this website is a good place to get started! Download a Go Sonoma flyer in English and Spanish or request Go Sonoma business cards to hand out.
- Engage your employees with some of the Spare the Air Clean Commute videos available, including The Beard, Driving Alternatives (catch shots of Petaluma towards the end) or Clean Air Commute Stories.
Going Further:
Check out the other sections of this website for easy steps to get started using each mode of transportation.