Home Page	Table of Contents 1. Introducing MetroPool's "How-To" SMART Guide Series (sneak preview) 2. Who knew? Go Figure! 3. Transit and Construction Updates 4. Happy Anniversary CTTRANSIT! 5. What's new from MetroPool? For further information on commute programs and services, contact the MetroPool TDM (Transportation Demand Management) Program Manager in your region: In Connecticut: Greater Bridgeport Region: Tom White 203/384-9889 Greater Danbury Region: Kareon Jones 203/790-9906 Lower Fairfield County: Theresa Fanelle 203/425-4333 In New York: Westchester County: Ann Drury 914/993-0649 Dutchess/Rockland/Orange/Putnam/Ulster Counties: Gary Russo 914/473-7476 Smart Talk is published bi-monthly by MetroPool, Inc. with the support of federal and state funding from the Connecticut and New York Departments of Transportation. The views expressed in Smart Talk are not necessarily those of MetroPool, Inc's funders, Board Members, nor supporting agencies or organizations.
Home Page Back to Top	Introducing MetroPool's "How-To" SMART Guide Series (a sneak preview)" If you had to choose a performer that best characterized you, which one would it be- a juggler, clown, stand-up comedian or country western singer? My guess is that many of us would choose the juggler, and not just any ordinary run-of-the-mill juggling three-balls-at-a-time juggler. Ours would be juggling bottles, hats and balls while precariously perched atop a high wire. Doesn't it feel this way more often than not when we have to balance and juggle our many work and family responsibilities daily? "Life is busy," is truly an understatement! Recognizing this, MetroPool is developing a series of SMART guide booklets for Employee Transportation Coordinators (ETCs) on promoting carpool and vanpool programs at your worksites. Additional guides on other commute topics will follow. The purpose of these guides is to provide you with the tools you need as ETCs to either start-up a commute options program or rejuvenate one already in place. Each guide will contain ideas, techniques, information and resources for implementing that particular commute option, as well as case studies of various employers in our region with successful carpool and vanpool programs. The first booklet in the series, The SMART Guide to Carpool Programs, will be available next month (September, `96). The guide is written for both veteran and novice ETCs. Carpool program basics are addressed, such as: why care about carpooling, what are the benefits of carpooling, what is a carpool, how do you get management to support a carpool program and what are people's concerns about carpooling. Other topics covered in the guide deal with setting up carpool programs, for example: how to get employees interested in carpooling, how to keep track of carpools, how to set-up support programs for carpooling (i.e. guaranteed ride home and preferred parking) and incentives for carpooling (that won't break the bank)! Sample flyers and other helpful materials to implement a carpool program are provided in the appendix of the booklet. The following employers with outstanding carpool programs are highlighted: Westchester County (Westchester, NY), Avon Products, Inc. (Suffern, NY) and Pope John Paul II for Health (Danbury, CT). You'll have to wait for this SMART Guide to read all about these programs, but as a sneak preview, it is interesting to note that for each of these employers, it's not a big budget or expensive incentives that drives the carpool program. Rather, it is the enthusiasm, commitment and resourcefulness of the ETC that has been and continues to be instrumental in successfully promoting carpooling at these worksites. By giving you the tools you need to implement successful commute programs at your worksite, we hope these SMART guides will give you more time to be creative ETCs, while juggling all the myriad of other things you have to do at work!
Home Page Back to Top	Who knew? Go figure! Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems as if a lot of people are under the impression that driving to work is a lot less expensive than using mass transit. On the contrary, driving is a lot more expensive than either riding the bus or train. Why do I think you should know this? As the ETC, it is important for you to be aware of the facts about commute options. If mass transportation is accessible to the employees at your worksite, then this information could be very helpful. If you work at a site that is not served by either the bus or train, perhaps this information can expand your own personal knowledge about transportation. I recently read an article that described how Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, believes in reading all that you can. In commenting how he reads a news weekly he stated, "If I were to read only what intrigues me- say the science and business sections, then I would finish the magazine the same person I was when I started. So I read it all." That said, this article compares the costs of driving to mass transit. Driving vs. Train and Bus Driving costs do not include parking fees at the worksite, since most employers provide free parking. The monthly costs for driving are based on an average of 21 working days/month. The daily and monthly fees for the train include parking fees at the station and the cost for the train ticket. The monthly costs for the train and bus are not calculated by multiplying the daily costs by 21 working days/month (as are the monthly costs for driving). The various transit providers offer monthly passes at a substantial discount to the daily fee rate. The cost per mile figure of 42.6 cents used for these comparisons is derived from AAA's pamphlet "Your Driving Costs," 1996 Edition, and is based on the following: the composite national average for three different cars (`96 Ford Escort LX, `96 Ford Taurus GL and `96 Chevrolet Caprice Classic), and a motorist driving 15,000 miles a year. Scenario 1: MTA Metro-North (New Haven Line) New Haven to Stamford 80 miles round trip Daily Fee Monthly Fee Travel Time (rush hour)* Drive $34.08 $715.68 1.5 - 2 hours Train $17.50 $194.60 50 - 55 minutes *It is interesting to note that in a recent article "Intrastate rail commuting rises sharply" in The Advocate (7/25/96), the point was made by Mary Franco, Director of Institutional Advancement for the University of Connecticut, that in Fairfield County, commuting is measured by time, not miles. According to Franco, "We oftentimes have people who have to come down from Storrs. They count their commuting in terms of miles and we count them in terms of time." Scenario 2: MTA Metro-North (Harlem Line) Brewster to White Plains 80 miles round trip Daily Fee Monthly Fee Travel Time (rush hour) Drive $34.08 $715.68 1.5 - 2 hours Train $13.36 $126.75* 50 - 55 minutes *Monthly fee may be less, due to differing parking rates at the train station in Brewster. Scenario 3: I-BUS (CTTRANSIT) Stamford to White Plains 30 miles round trip Daily Fee Monthly Fee Drive $12.78 $268.38 Bus $5.00 $75.00 Scenario 4: Bee-Line (Westchester DOT) Route 77 Express: Baldwin Place to White Plains 50 miles round trip Daily Fee Monthly Fee Drive $21.30 $447.30 Bus $2.80* $50.00 *Daily fee may be less if purchase Bee-Line Bargain Books (see article below).
Home Page Back to Top	Transit and Construction Updates Bee-Line Bargain Books now carried at most fare outlets in Westchester County The Westchester County DOT has announced that the popular 22-ticket Bee-Line Bargain Books are now available at most locations in Westchester County where PASSPORTS and Golden PASSPORTS are sold. The cost for a 22-ticket book is $25.00. This represents a cost per trip of only $1.15, compared to the current $1.40 cash fare. While still available by mail, Bee-Line Bargain Books may now be purchased at more than 70 outlets throughout the County, including the Westchester County Center in White Plains and most Bank of New York branches in Westchester. Call the Bee-Line Information Center at 914/682-2020 for the nearest outlet. MTA Metro-North Improvements The 6.2 million reconstruction project of the New Canaan Branch of the New Haven Line began at the end of July and is expected to take approximately eight weeks to finish. According to State Transportation Commissioner J. William Burns, "completion of this program will provide passengers on New Canaan Branch trains with a smoother ride and more reliable service." The entire eight-mile branch line between Stamford and New Canaan will be rebuilt. The project consists of replacement of the rail lines with new, modern welded tracks. It also includes rebuilding twelve at-grade crossings. Such total reconstruction will affect the travel patterns for both customers of the rail line as well as for the motorists using grade crossings. From July 29 - September 13 (estimated date of project completion), buses will take New Canaan Branch customers to and from Stamford from 8:22 a.m. to 5:54 p.m. For schedule information, customers in Connecticut can call (800) METRO-INFO. For motorists, information regarding the time and place of grade crossing closings will be detailed in newspaper advisories via the city of Stamford's traffic engineer's office. Bear Mountain Bridge Resurfacing Project A project to resurface the Bear Mountain Bridge is scheduled to begin in early August and be completed by the end of August. Paving will be done around the clock, from Sunday at 9:00 p.m. through Tuesday at 6:00 p.m., weather permitting, during the first two weeks in August. During paving one lane of traffic will be maintained in each direction on the bridge in a varying pattern with occasional brief interruptions to traffic. Route 57 Closure in Westport Route 57 over the Aspetuck and Saugatuck rivers in Westport will reopen to traffic on August 14, but reconstruction of the bridges will continue. Lane closures will not be allowed during morning and evening rush hours. The project is slated to be completed by the end of November.
Home Page Back to Top	Happy Anniversary CTTRANSIT! CTTRANSIT is celebrating its 20th year of making the wheels of the bus go round and round in Connecticut. The state bought CTTRANSIT and its 295 buses in 1976 for $10.6 million, at a time when service was waning. Since then, many improvements have been made, such as: modernizing the fleet with air-conditioned, wheelchair-accessible buses, and building new maintenance and administrative facilities in Stamford and Hartford. CTTRANSIT operates 370 buses and has served almost 575 million passengers in the last two decades.
Home Page Back to Top	What's new from MetroPool Beginning next month (September), the monthly flyers will be available in Spanish. To place your order call Paula Sakofs at 203/324-6700.