Alternative transportation program recognized with national award
The Best Workplaces for Commuters, a program managed by the National Center for Transit Research and designed to encourage sustainable transportation innovation, has once again recognized Virginia Tech among 15 employers nationwide with a "Race to Excellence" award.
The award program recognizes organizations who have taken exemplary steps to offer transportation options such as vanpool and transit benefits or telework and compressed workweek for their employees.
This is the third consecutive year Virginia Tech has been recognized with this distinction.
To participate in the Race for Excellence, a work place must first be recognized as a Best Workplace for Commuters by meeting the National Standard of Excellence in commuter benefits, a standard established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and maintained by the National Center for Transit Research.
Alternative transportation programs offered at Virginia Tech recognized through this competition include:
- Virginia Tech’s partnership with Blacksburg Transit which allows faculty, staff and students the option to ride buses fare-free;
- Discounted monthly Smart Way bus passes;
- Bike, Bus, and Walk program;
- Carpool program; and the
- Vanpool program.
“We’re proud of the programs we offer, but the key component is participation from faculty, staff, and students,” said Steve Mouras, director of Transportation and Campus Services.
In the past year, more than 100 faculty and staff members and more than 470 students participated in the Bike, Bus, and Walk program, and the carpool program saw more than 100 faculty and staff permits assigned and more than 460 student carpool permits assigned.
With minimum requirement of two participants in each carpool, at least 1,120 people are carpooling to campus.
“The Race to Excellence award program gives national recognition for employers who offer high level commuter benefits,” said Julie Bond, National Center for Transit Research’s national program manager for Best Workplaces for Commuters. “Offering commuter benefits is a win-win situation for both employees and employers. Employees change their commuting habits, save time, money, and stress while employers gain a competitive edge in employee recruitment and retention.”
Dedicated to its motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), Virginia Tech takes a hands-on, engaging approach to education, preparing scholars to be leaders in their fields and communities. As the commonwealth’s most comprehensive university and its leading research institution, Virginia Tech offers 240 undergraduate and graduate degree programs to more than 31,000 students and manages a research portfolio of $513 million. The university fulfills its land-grant mission of transforming knowledge to practice through technological leadership and by fueling economic growth and job creation locally, regionally, and across Virginia.
