Van Pools Blog
VPSI’s Approach to the Five Stages of Sustainability
January 5th, 2011 1 CommentBy Ed Sweeney, VPSI’s National Accounts Program Director
GreenBiz.com recently posted a great article about the stages companies go through as they work toward sustainability. Vijay Kanal explains that, at first, a company’s efforts happen at a Grassroots level as individual employees collaborate on sustainable initiatives. Then the efforts enter the Functional stage, in which “one or two divisions or functional units – typically Facilities, Operations, or IT – get involved in a much bigger way.” From there it elevates to the Strategic, the broadening of the company’s efforts into an Ecosystem that includes other companies like vendors, and finally to a state in which sustainability is in the company’s DNA.
Marketing Based on the Five Major Stages of the Sustainability Journey
You can read the entire piece here. Kanal believes few companies pass into the DNA level, and cites Timberland as an example.
Read More
Fort Riley’s Vanpooling Program
July 23rd, 2010 0 CommentsA video done by Riley Television highlighting the benefits of vanpooling.
Army Mass Transportation Benefit Program: Monthly Benefit Increase
March 2nd, 2009 0 CommentsFrom ASA (FM&C) Resource Analysis and Business Practices (RABP) on 2/27/09
The recently enacted “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009″ includes a provision that significantly increases the benefit amount for the Mass Transportation Benefit Program. The maximum allowable benefit will increase from $120 per month per participant to $230 per month. The Act sets the effective date of the increase as 1 March 2009.
Per this increase, MTBP POCs have been instructed to review their information on participants who currently receive the maximum monthly benefit and determine which participants will be eligible to receive an increase. Instructions have been issued to program POCs for submission of information on participants who are eligible for an increase.
Participants who currently receive the maximum monthly benefit and believe they are eligible to receive an increase should contact their local MTBP POC for assistance.
Read more here
Stimulus Package Increases Transit Benefit Allowance, Vanpools Included
February 27th, 2009 0 CommentsFrom The Washington Post on 2/26/09, by Lena H. Sun
Stimulus Fund Package Almost Doubles Allowance
Increased Subsidy Might Mean a Boost in Ridership on Longest Rail Commutes, Officials Say
Good news for transit riders: Starting Sunday, the monthly transit benefit allowance increases to $230 from the current $120, thanks to the recently enacted economic stimulus package.
The new federal legislation allows employers to subsidize their employees as much as $230 a month, or $2,760 a year, in public transportation benefits. Or an employee can receive the benefit as a pretax payroll deduction or some combination of the two.
In the Washington region, more than 189,000 employees from 400 federal agencies and 4,000 private employers use the benefit and participate in Metro’s SmartBenefits program. The Metro program allows employers to assign a dollar value of each employee’s monthly commuting benefit directly to their individual electronic SmarTrip cards. Employees take the cards to machines in Metrorail stations between the first and last day of the month to claim the benefit.
Riders can then use the benefit on Metrorail and Metrobus, to pay for parking in Metro facilities, on regional bus systems, registered van pools and on MARC and Virginia Railway Express. (Smart cards are not accepted by MARC or VRE, but commuters can have their benefits assigned and receive the tickets or passes they need.)
Read more of this article here.
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Increases Transportation Fringe Benefit
February 25th, 2009 0 CommentsWashington – This week, Congress took action on the “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act” and included a provision that would increase the cap on the transit/vanpool portion of the transportation fringe benefit to $230 a month, the same as parking. The change approved today by the committee would correct the current inequity between the transit and parking portions of the commute benefit, which affects millions of commuters.
In a statement, Jon Martz, Vice President of VPSI, offered the following:
“The action taken today by Congress is an important step forward in providing the American worker with cost effective commute alternatives. There are hundreds of thousands of vanpoolers around the nation who utilize the transit benefit on their daily commutes. These vanpoolers help reduce congestion by taking as many as 14 cars of the road per vanpool and conserving hundreds of millions of gallons of fuel each year. In many states, the cost of utilizing a vanpool exceeds the current cap on the transit benefit. This provision will provide those workers with much needed tax relief and fairness by establishing equity between the transit/vanpool and parking portions of the commute benefit.
“I specifically want to thank Senator Schumer and Congressman McGovern for their tireless leadership on this important issue. Their leadership and efforts will help provide a cost effective way for millions of Americans to get to and from the jobs that this legislation intends to create.
“I am also encouraged by the commitment to spur economic stimulus by appropriating a significant amount of funding towards highway and transit projects. I am confident that these funds will help reduce congestion, conserve energy, clean the air, and create jobs.”
About VPSI, Inc.
Established in 1977 and headquartered in Troy MI, VPSI is the nation’s leading provider of commuter vanpool services. With offices in forty (40) major cities in the U.S. and Europe and more than 5,200 operating vanpools, VPSI provides an environmentally friendly public transportation option that saves commuters time and money.
Vanpools are a qualified mode of public transportation under the transportation fringe benefit and are one of the many ways companies can obtain credit towards LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. VPSI serves industries, governments, individuals and Fortune 500 employees around the world. For more information, please visit www.vpsiinc.com.
Subscribe to our RSS Feed
-
-
Testimonials
My story begins nearly 20 years ago. I was just out of college and was living in San Bruno, California ... Read More
You Just Never Know Where MichiVan Might Take You I used to make the commute to work with my husband, but ... Read More
“I just gave myself a raise!” is a familiar exclamation as a new rider boards the van for the first ... Read More
Blogroll
Environment
- 41 Pounds
- AlternativeEnergy.com
- Calculate Your Carbon Footprint Here!
- CarbonFund.org
- Chesapeake Bay Foundation
- Earth Lab
- Environmental Defense Fund
- Gas Price Rant
- Hybrid Cars
- My Energy Friends
- Natural Resources Defense Council
- Robin Chase Blog
- Spare the Air
- Sustainable Facility
- The Alternative Consumer
- The Leonardo Academy
Green Blogs
Tools
Transportation
- 95 Express
- American Public Transportation Association
- Association for Commuter Transportation
- Automotive-fleet.com
- Car Free World
- Center for Transportation Excellence
- CommuterPageBlog
- Commuters Switch to Public Transportation
- Fort Levanworth
- getDowntown
- GoLoco
- Housing and Transportation Affordability index
- iRideBlog
- Pick Up Pal
- Robin Chase Blog
- TDM Talk: Debats on Transportation
- Zip Car