• Connecticut and New York State DOTs expand SMART Ride Stuff Program.
  
  
• Rockland looks to the rails for congestion relief.
  
  
• MetroPool's Third Annual Leadership Awards.
  
  Winners of the Fourth Annual Earth Week Challenge.
  
  
• Results of the Third Annual Great Train Race.
  
  
• Compressed Work Week is a win-win situation at Raytheon.
  
  
• New tax relief for employers with traffic reduction plans in Connecticut.
  
  

Seven Fairfield County employers and five Hudson Valley Region employers earned top honors in the fourth annual alternative transportation Earth Week challenge sponsored by the Connecticut and New York Departments of Transportation and MetroPool.

Winners included:
• In Lower Fairfield County, Champion International in the "Most Participants" category, and The Town of Greenwich in the "Highest Percentage of Participation" category.

• In the Greater Bridgeport/Valley Region, Pitney Bowes Credit Corporation for the "Most Participants" and Stratford Board of Education/Stratford Academy for "Highest Percentage of Participation".

• In the Danbury region, Cendant Mobility and Raytheon tied for first place in the "Most Participants" category and Garner Correctional Institution won in the "Highest Percentage of Participation" category.

• In Westchester County, Renaissance Westchester Hotel, White Plains, in the "Most Participants" category, and Social Security Administration Office of Hearing & Appeals, White Plains, in the "Highest Percentage of Participation" category.

• In Rockland County, Rockland Community College, Suffern, for "Most Participants" and Barr Labs, Blauvelt, for "Highest Percentage Participation".

• In Orange County, IBM, Sterling Forest for both "Most Participants" and "Highest Percentage".

The 1999 "Get Alternative" competition drew support from 78 employers across Southwestern Connecticut and the Hudson Valley Region of New York - an increase of 53% over last year. Participating employers agreed to encourage their workforce to use transportation alternatives at least one day during Earth Week (April 19-23).

"We are delighted with the tremendous support this year's challenge received from the business community," says Marsha Gordon, President and CEO of MetroPool. "Clearly, more and more employers in our region see transportation to be a significant workforce retention and recruitment issue."

A total of 2,583 commuters took part, removing 2,126 single-occupant vehicles from the road for at least one day during the week. "That's enough cars to fill three lanes of traffic for more than three miles of highway," notes Gordon. "Imagine the impact if we could reduce traffic by that much every day!"

Commuters used a variety of transportation alternatives for the challenge. The most popular option was carpooling, used by 1,339 people. Second choice was the bus at 428. Other options included: the train, 294; telecommuting, 167; walking, 156; vanpooling, 111; bike-riding, 67; and working a compressed week, 60.

The results represent a savings of more than 6,206 gallons of fuel and the elimination of 397 pounds of hydrocarbon emissions, 447 pounds of nitrogen oxide and 2,160 pounds of carbon monoxide.

"The goal of this contest is to encourage more commuters to use alternatives to driving to work alone. It's our hope that some who used alternatives for the first time during Earth Week will want to continue to use those alternatives on a regular basis now that they have experienced how convenient and stress-reducing they can be," adds Gordon.

For more information about the Earth Day challenge, call Paula Sakofs at MetroPool at (203) 324-6700, ext. 309 or [email protected].