Atlanta Business Chronicle
From the September 12, 2005 print edition
Lee Hall - Contributing Writer
Pooling together
As gas prices soar, companies are finding ways to keep their employees off the road and out of traffic
Kate Lee takes on the world from her home in Dunwoody. Lee, a public affairs manager with GE Energy, often avails herself of the company's telework option when she conducts communications training for GE's overseas offices.
"I will be at home, my son will be in bed and when I'm done, I go to bed. I could not do that as easily if I didn't have that [telework] capability," Lee said.
Convenience notwithstanding, working from home keeps Lee out of her car, off the streets and away from the gas pump just a little longer.
With fuel prices soaring -- and little relief in site in the wake of Hurricane Katrina -- Atlanta employers and their workers are scurrying to find ways to save any way they can. More workers are looking to the boss for help in dealing with commuting concerns, and, in more and more cases, workers are finding the boss is accommodating.
"Our outreach team is absolutely swamped right now," said Ellen Macht, executive director of the Clean Air Campaign, a nonprofit organization that works with more than 400 metro-area employers across 20 counties on commuting issues.
Macht said increasing interest in carpool and vanpool programs coincides with record-high fuel prices and choking traffic.
In August, the price of a gallon of regular gasoline topped $2.50 in Atlanta, the highest average on record. Then after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, prices in some areas of metro Atlanta passed the $5 dollar mark -- amid talk of disabled supply lines.
And, the 2005 traffic congestion study conducted by the Texas Transportation Institute concluded that Atlanta drivers this year will encounter 103.6 million hours of traffic delays and waste 71 million gallons of fuel due to heavy traffic. The study estimates the "cost of congestion" for the Atlanta area at $1.7 billion.
Some of the solutions sound amazingly simple.
"If every person in Atlanta would telework at least one day a week, we would not have a traffic problem," Macht said.
And the air would be cleaner. About 475 Georgia Power Co. employees participate in a telework program that the company figures will reduce vehicle miles traveled by 3 million and keep about 6 million tons of auto exhaust pollutants from entering the atmosphere.
"We find that it increases morale among employees, because they can balance their life and their work a little better," said Jane Franklin, Georgia Power's director of special projects.
Behind the wheel
Where teleworking is not possible, car and van pools may fit the bill.
The mammoth Lockheed Martin Corp. complex in Marietta has added five vans to its fleet this year. Anheuser-Busch Cos. (NYSE: BUD) just started a program at its complex in Bartow County.
Employees at GE Energy and workers in nearby office buildings pay a flat fee of $50 a month to participate in a vanpool program operated through the Commuter Club, part of the Cumberland Community Improvement District (CID).
"The cost compared favorably [to a single-occupancy vehicle] when gas prices were $1.20 a gallon. At $2.50, it's a no brainier," said Tad Leithead, a senior vice president at Cousins Properties Inc. (NYSE: CUZ) and Cumberland CID chairman. He was speaking in late August.
The Commuter Club puts 42 vans on the road on any given day, carrying an average of 10 people each.
Leithead said getting people into a van pool is only half of the solution. Keeping them there has proved to be the bigger challenge. Rider turnover causes headaches as routes must be reconfigured and pick-up times adjusted. But fewer people are dropping out as gas prices rise.
"They join the program to save money on gas, but they stay because they like the fellowship or because they can sleep or read on the way to work," Leithead said.
Employers benefit
Employers also find commuter assistance programs beneficial.
Georgia Power, which faces the loss of hundreds of experienced workers to retirement over the next decade, discovered that the ability to telework might be just the ticket to encourage some of those people to keep working.
"Employees told us that if they could have more flexibility in their schedules, they would stay with us longer. That's a great benefit for us," Franklin said.
A study conducted for AT&T Corp. (NYSE: T) concluded the productivity of telecommuting workers is as much as 20 percent higher than the productivity of workers who can't telecommute.
"Employers realize that they have commuting employees who are more stressed out," Macht said. "They know that if they can reduce that stress level, it can certainly add to the bottom line."
Making it work
A majority of GE Energy employees worldwide participate in teleworking at some level, with out-of-office time ranging from a few hours to a full five days per week.
The company provides everything from a high-speed Internet connection to office furniture, depending on how much time the employee spends away from the office.
The secret to a successful alternative commuting program starts at the top, said Lani Hall, a diversity leader at GE Energy.
"Top leadership must provide support and express a vocal commitment to it," said Hall, adding that success also depends on how well the company communicates goals and expectations and how well it manages the sometimes complex technology involved with connecting far-flung workers with the central office.
Even smaller employers can participate by encouraging workers to use mass transit where possible or by taking part in the Clean Air Campaign's "cash for commuters" program, under which CAC makes direct payments of up to $180 to commuters who use alternative forms of transportation.
"It's a great morale booster and a benefit that employers can provide their workers at very little cost," Macht said.