Kent Hospital was one of 11 hospitals and health care facilities that made the list; it was added in September. The hospital currently has 50 people in its car-pool program and hopes to increase that number to 200 – nearly 10 percent of its work force – in the next 18 months as part of the hospital’s “Keep it Green” initiative, said Brian Wallin, director of marketing and public relations.
Car-poolers are guaranteed a parking spot close to an employee entrance and are entered into periodic drawings and giveaways, said Wallin. The hospital also offers an emergency ride home program for anyone in the car-pool program, he said.
Rhode Island's Market Has Changed. Developers, Builders, Investors and Sellers Must Change With It.
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Rhode Island Housing offers its workers flex-time that allows them to arrange hours around bus schedules; compressed workweeks that let employees work 40 hours over four days, reducing their travel time by 20 percent; and telecommuting options that permit working from home, said Chris Barnett, communications director. The organization has been on the list since September 2003.
Grow Smart Rhode Island, first recognized in July 2003, gives employees $150 a month to cover transit-related expenses, said John Flaherty, director of research and communications. The company organized a campaign on the benefits of reducing congestion, improving air quality and offering more options for employees before the first study was released in 2003, said Flaherty.
The Naval Undersea Warfare Center also offers reimbursement for employees who take part in the car-pool program and allows for telecommuting, said David Sanders, public affairs officer. More than 460 of the nearly 2,700 employees are classified as telecommuters, he said.
The 130 employers on the New England’s Best Workplaces for Commuters list employ more than 170,000 commuters. The companies’ air-pollution and congestion reducing measures will eliminate 78,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide, decrease the number of miles driven in New England by 185 miles yearly, and will save the region’s commuters more than 8.8 million gallons of gas annually, the report said.
The cost of traffic congestion in Providence totals $363 million, placing it well below Massachusetts, at $1.7 billion, but more than double the cost in Hartford, Conn. The congestion cost per commuter is $546, while 11 million gallons of fuel was wasted in Providence, according to a Texas Transportation Institute Urban Mobility Study that was cited in the report.
The same study said the average rush-hour Providence commuter spends 33 hours each year stuck in traffic – in between 51 hours in Boston and 16 hours in Hartford.
Lucy Edmondson, EPA transportation policy specialist for region 1, said New England cars and trucks contribute more than half of the ozone smog problem. The list grew from 33 companies the first year, she said.
In order to be on the list, an employer must offer incentives for using public transit systems, car-pooling benefits or secure areas for bicycles, said Edmondson.
