MARICOPACOUNTY’S TRIP REDUCTION PROGRAM

BACKGROUND: MaricopaCounty administers and enforces the program. Valley Metro provides employer outreach and support. To contact a member of Valley Metro’s Rideshare Team please call602-534-6472.

GOAL: To reduce air pollution by reducing drive-alone trips to the worksite. Target reductions are: 10% per year for the first 5 years of the program, 5% thereafter. The target will never be lower than 60% SOV (Single Occupant Vehicle) use. Exception: There is no minimum goal for students.

PARTICIPANTS: Any employer in Maricopa County with 50 or more employees reporting to a single worksite 3 or more days per week, 6 months or more out of the year.

REQUIREMENTS: The requirements of the program are simple. They are:

Appoint a Transportation Coordinator (TC) to manage the program for the company. TC works with MaricopaCounty and Valley Metro staff to implement the program. Changes in TC are to be reported within 30 days.

Survey employees annually. The survey is the measuring tool the County uses to compare SOV rates from one year to the next. You will have 30 days from date of receipt to get the surveys completed and returned to the County.
MaricopaCounty supplies the surveys.
Available in English and Spanish.
May be completed on paper or electronically, or a combination of the two.

If your company has more than one site in MaricopaCounty you will receive surveys separated by site. Return them to the County the same way.

Employees who report 3 or more days per week, 6 months or more out of the year are surveyed – Not temps, contractors or volunteers.

OK to use an interpreter, but DO NOT complete the survey for the employee.

 Minimum response rate is 60%. If response rate is below 60%, missing surveys are counted as SOVs!

Survey results will be received approximately 60 days after the surveys are turned in to MaricopaCounty.

Write and implement a “Trip Reduction Plan”
The plan lists the incentives your company offers to encourage alternative mode use. Plan update is due 5 weeks after you receive your survey results.
Companies that don’t meet target reductions must eventually offer at least four “ordinance measures.” These are:

--Prize drawings for alternative mode users (AMUs)
--Incentives for new AMUs and those who move closer to the worksite
--A guaranteed ride home for AMUs in case of emergency
--Special parking for carpools
--50% or more subsidies for alternative mode use
--On-site daycare
--On-site showers & lockers for walkers and bicyclists
--A pay-for-parking program for employees
--Telecommuting or compressed work weeks of at least 10% of the workforce at the site

  • Your Valley Metro Rideshare Representative would love to help you update your plan and remove “fluff” and ineffective incentives.

Collect and maintain documentation to prove that you have implemented your company’s program. Provide documentation to MaricopaCounty upon request, usually once a year shortly before survey time.

Provide alternative mode information to new employees
A summary of your company’s incentives
Promotional materials and services available from Valley Metro

Make a “good faith effort” to achieve target reductions in drive-alone travel to the worksite

“OR ELSE:” Employers who refuse to comply with the TRP ordinance are subject to civil penalties of up to $300 per day for every day they are out of compliance. To date, fines ranging from $1,000 to over $26,000 have been paid by employers who failed to abide by the ordinance.

QUESTIONS/ASSISTANCE: To contact a member of Valley Metro’s Rideshare Team please call 602-534-6472.