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Employee Travel Reduction is an important part of our EHS programs, particularly in the Phoenix area – a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) non-attainment area for particulate matter and eight-hour ozone standard. We encourage employee travel reduction activity and offer subsidies to further persuade our employees to use alternative means of transportation. Our subsidies cover a portion of the costs for vanpooling, bus fares and carpool parking. We accommodate compressed work weeks, telecommuting and videoconferencing. We also offer assistance to employees in finding carpool partners, and in setting up carpools.
APS maintains a fleet of 167 vans that operate daily for employees commuting between Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station (PVNGS) and the Phoenix area. APS began operating this program in 1994 and almost 62 percent of the permanent APS employees at PVNGS participate. This program has significantly contributed to the site achieving a single occupant vehicle (SOV) rate well below the 60-percent target. The fleet approaches five million commuting miles annually. The commuting miles eliminated with this outstanding program is more than 32.7 million annually, resulting in a pollution savings of approximately 442 tons each year.
Travel reduction incentives for employees include:
- $25 monthly subsidy toward vanpool expense for employees who commute in any local Valley Metro vans. The employee monthly costs are payroll deducted
- A 50 percent subsidy of the monthly accrued fares up to $20 to employees who commute by bus
- Employees carpooling do not pay the monthly $46 for parking at company headquarters
- Employees carpooling with three or more people do not pay the cost of parking and are given a reserved parking space in the parking garage at headquarters
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