UNC-Chapel Hill was named Best Workplaces for Commuters for 2018. On Jan. 31 the Center for Urban Transportation Research announced the employers who earned the designation by meeting the National Standard of Excellence criteria with their employee commuter benefits. Carolina was one of 37 colleges and universities nationally and one of six in North Carolina to receive the designation.
More than 20 percent of employees commute to the University and UNC Hospitals by using transit, and more than 12 percent of employees bike, walk or use rideshare options to go to work.
“Carolina is committed to helping commuters get to campus in sustainable ways that also address our parking limitations,” said Amanda Simmons, transportation demand manager for UNC-Chapel Hill. “We are one of the first public universities nationwide to look holistically at campus transportation demand management — promoting public transit, carpooling, vanpooling, bicycling and walking — with the joint goals of reducing traffic and the need for parking, while improving air quality.”
Carolina provides commuter incentives for faculty, staff and students with the nationally recognized Commuter Alternative Program (CAP), designed to reward people who travel to campus by bus, bike, ridesharing and walking. Over 1,600 employees currently receive a free bus pass through CAP to ride GoTriangle, Piedmont Authority for Regional Transportation (PART) or Chatham Transit.
“This designation for Carolina not only recognizes the hard work we put into improving the commuting challenges our employees face, but also shows the University’s dedication to the environment,” said Brad Ives, associate vice chancellor for campus enterprises and chief sustainability officer. “CAP works in partnership with the Three Zeros Environmental Initiative to find affordable ways for our employees and students to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while commuting.”
Carolina is also recognized as a Bicycle Friendly University by the League of American Bicyclists, which recognizes institutions of higher education for promoting and providing a more bikeable campus for students, staff and visitors.
To be designated among the nation’s Best Workplaces for Commuters, employers must provide benefits that result in at least 14 percent of their employees no longer driving alone to and from work within a 12-month period and must demonstrate that they meet the National Standard of Excellence. To achieve this standard, workplaces can choose from a wide variety of commuter-support programs such as subsidized transit or vanpool passes, compressed workweek schedules, or secured bicycle parking.
Learn more about healthy and sustainable transportation options provided by CAP at cap.unc.edu. Learn more about the Triangle office of the Best Workplace for Commuters, of which UNC-Chapel Hill is a member.