Walk or Ride - Don't Drive

I came across this article I wrote while working as the Urban Adventures Coordinator at the Urban Ecology Center. I really like the idea of employers encouraging people not to drive, so here is the article, again...


EcoBucks at the Center

Do you know anyone who gets paid to ride his bike to work? This October the Urban Ecology Center initiated an idea in answer to a question that has been brewing since last winter: How can we get people to drive less?

Carpooling, mass transit, walking and bike riding have been promoted for many years as ways to reduce pollution, unblock traffic jams, alleviate parking shortages and diminish our dependence on foreign oil. So far, none of these concerns has receded to the point of disappearing. All of the proposed solutions are good ideas. Why haven’t they caught on? We don’t know. But the staff realized that we don’t carpool, take the bus or bike nearly as often as we could.

In an effort to modify our own behavior, the Center has instituted the EcoBuck Program. Anytime that an employee gets to and from work without using additional fossil fuels he or she gets a dollar. Biking, walking and taking the bus all count. Carpooling counts half. We keep track of alternative transportation days on a calendar and receive any earned Eco-Bucks monthly, added to our regular paychecks.

The reasons for starting the program are varied. “We wanted to practice what we teach,” says Ken Leinbach, Executive Director. The overarching goal of the Center is to promote environmentally sound behavior. EcoBucks are an external motivation to consume less fossil fuels. Not driving also helps ease the demand on the limited parking spaces that are available near the Center. EcoBucks provide motivation to get more exercise. Traditionally, the workplace doesn’t value time not directly involved in work. “Biking or walking to work enhances the connection between mind, body and spirit,” says Leinbach, “Healthier workers are happier. Happier workers are more productive.”

The EcoBuck program has boosted staff camaraderie by creating a friendly competition. “For me the motivating factor is not the dollar, but being last among the staff,” says Darrell Smith,Community Program Coordinator. “I live across the river and have ridden my bike to work only twice in the last year and a half. Since EcoBucks started I’ve ridden three times in two weeks.” The rest of the staff agree. “It’s nice to be encouraged to do something I want to do any way. I spend less on gas and get more money at the end of the month,” says Tim Vargo, Environmental Educator. Susan Winans, Environmental Educator, doesn’t own a car and has always ridden the bus to work. “EcoBucks hasn’t changed my behavior, but it is nice to be reimbursed for part of my bus fare. Plus, it is enjoyable to be part of a group that makes it fun to drive less,” she said. According to Leinbach, “The EcoBuck program is a small investment for a significant return.”

The idea of a work-sponsored program evolved from a long conversation as the staff drove across frozen Wisconsin returning from a conference last winter. How can we get people to drive less? The discussion ranged from creating corporate carpooling programs to developing a citywide alternative currency paid for alternative transportation. We settled for starting with earning a free lunch. Active discussion of an incentive to travel in environmentally responsible ways hibernated for the summer and re-emerged in October as EcoBucks.

In the first month of keeping records the Center staff got to work 66 times without using additional fossil fuels. In the second month, that number grew to 95.5 times. How can you get people to drive less? Could your company create a similar program? Could the city provide matching funds for less pollution, less congestion, less parking, instead of more freeways? Less is possible.


River Reflections – Newsletter of the Urban Ecology Center
Volume 13, Number 1
January & February 2004

See original newsletter article here: http://www.urbanecologycenter.org/newsletter/2004/jan.feb.2004.pdf