Home Page	Table of Contents 1. NY and CT Employers are Clean Air Champs! 2. You have spoken and we are listening 3. Important numbers for commuter information 4. Construction Updates 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	NY and CT Employers are Clean Air Champs! The results are in from MetroPool's 1st Annual Earth Day Contest and 36 employers in New York and Connecticut, representing 15,000 employees, deserve kudos for participating in this event! Thanks to the five percent of these employees who pledged their use of a commute option during the week of April 22-April 26, the following positive results were gained: 617 single-occupant vehicles (SOVs) were removed from the road- enough to fill three lanes of traffic ONE MILE LONG! 48,126 vehicle miles traveled were reduced 2,406 gallons of fuel were saved 150 lbs. of hydrocarbons, 170 lbs. of nitrous oxide and 836 lbs. of carbon monoxide were eliminated The New York employers, listed in rank order according to the number of participants, were: Avon Products, Inc., NY State Thruway Authority, Texaco, Inc., Wyeth-Ayerst Lederle, St. Joseph's Medical Center, SUNBURST Communications, Inc., Akzo Nobel Chemicals, Inc., NYNEX Science & Technology, TKR Cable Company, Community Hospital at Dobbs Ferry, Hitachi America, Ltd., American Health Foundation, Refined Sugars, Inc., Tascor and Northern Westchester Hospital. In Connecticut, the participating employers, listed similarly as those in New York, included: First County Bank, Trans-Lux Corporation, Cowles Business Media, Harmon Publishing, Time Warner Cable, GE Credit Corporation, Union Carbide Corporation, MetLife Long-Term Care Group, Praxair, Chartwell Re Corporation, Pitney Bowes Facsimile, Phibro, Inc., META Group, Barden Corporation, New Milford Hospital, Louis Dreyfus Corporation, US Postal Service in Bridgeport, Prudential Resources Management, Pitney Bowes Credit Corporation, CT Department of Social Services in Bridgeport and International Masters Publishers. We are extremely pleased with these results and with your feedback regarding how much you and the people you work with enjoyed participating in this contest. In one company, the President was the first person to hand in a pledge form! We truly appreciate the effort and energy many of you put into promoting this event. We are already planning for next year's Earth Day contest and hope that even more of you will pledge to be Clean Air Champs. So, mark your calendars now and look for information (early next year) about MetroPool's 2nd Annual Earth Day Contest!
Home Page Back to Top	You have spoken and we are listening A marketing survey of a random sample of ETCs was recently conducted which involved a 10 minute phone interview at the selected ETC's worksite. This project was undertaken in order to assess how MetroPool can better serve your needs as ETCs and assist you with your employee commute programs. We'd like to thank you for your cooperation and participation in this endeavor. A great deal of information has been obtained and although the final report has not been completed, the preliminary findings point to a few areas we'd like to address and share with you. Firstly, it is important for you to be aware of the various materials we currently produce and mail to you. If you are not receiving these materials and would like to be added to our mailing list, please contact us at (203)324-6700, fax us at (203)348-9252 or use our E-Mail address: [email protected]. Each month we send out flyers which address the issues you indicated are important to commuters; such as: saving money, environmental impacts of driving and highway congestion. Some of you stated that you don't receive enough flyers to distribute. That is easily resolved by calling us and letting us know how many more additional flyers you need- we are happy to provide you with additional copies. Also, some of you requested that this information be available in Spanish. Beginning this September, the monthly flyers will be available in Spanish to any employer who requests them. Other materials mailed to you include this newsletter which is mailed bi-monthly. The purpose of SMART Talk is to provide you, the ETC, with information on how to improve your employee commute program. In future issues expect to see information requested by those surveyed, such as: how to encourage people to carpool and case studies of employers in similar industries (i.e. higher education, health care). Transportation information such as construction updates and transit information was requested by many ETCs. Page three of this newsletter includes such information and we encourage you to post this on your Commuter Information Center or in an area highly visible to employees at your worksite. Feel free to call us if you need additional copies. Other materials we produce include: a quarterly newsletter entitled Commuter Connections, a monthly newspaper called The Commuters' Register, brochures on a variety of commuting topics, special brochures such as the SMART Guide to Winter Driving and others (advertised in this newsletter and/or made available through your TDM Program Manager). As you can see, we are not only interested in your opinions and suggestions, but think they are of value and are acting on them. Unfortunately, purchasing homes closer to where you work is not within the realm of realistic possibilities (as was suggested by one ETC when asked what more could MetroPool do to help ETCs). On a more serious note, if you were not selected for the survey and have ideas as to how to improve our services and/or materials, feel free to contact your TDM Program Manager or call us directly at (203)324-6700. We want to help you promote employee commute programs at your worksite and get positive results! We know that this is not an easy task. Getting commuters out of their cars is difficult, but try not to feel discouraged because changing attitudes takes time. This is stated most eloquently by one ETC who was interviewed - "No one message or piece of information is necessarily very effective in changing people's attitudes about driving alone; but a lot of messages that are somewhat effective, put together, are very effective." With that said, don't give up, keep talking and we'll keep listening. We want to serve you better!
Home Page Back to Top	Mass Transit Information In New York: Metro-North Commuter Railroad 1-800-METRO-INFO ShortLine 1-800-631-8405 *I-BUS (White Plains to Stamford) 1-888-BUS-RIDE (287-7433) toll free from area codes 203 & 914 only The Bee-Line System (Westchester) 914-682-2020 Tappan ZEExpress and all TOR Routes 914-634-1100 LOOP Bus System (Dutchess County) 914-485-4690 Putnam Area Rapid Transit (PART) 914-878-3480 Leprechaun 914-565-7900 Mass Transit Information In Connecticut: Metro-North Commuter Railroad 1-800-METRO-INFO *I-BUS (Stamford to White Plains) 1-888-BUS-RIDE (287-7433) toll free from area codes 203 & 914 only CTTRANSIT (Stamford) 203-327-7433 CTTRANSIT (New Haven) 203-624-0151 CTTRANSIT (Hartford) 203-525-9181 Norwalk Wheels 203-852-0000 Westport Transit 203-226-7171 Greater Bridgeport Transit 203-333-3031 Valley Transit 203-735-6408 HART (Danbury) 203-748-2034 *I-BUS offers commuters a new way to travel along I-95 & I-287 between Stamford & White Plains. With 24 trips daily during peak hours (5:30 AM-10:30 AM and 2:00 PM-8:00 PM) you can ride the I-BUS non-stop in either direction between Downtown Stamford and Downtown White Plains. For more information call the toll-free number listed above. For Carpool, Vanpool & Other Commuter Information Call MetroPool 1-800-FIND RIDE "We get SMART Commuters to Work"
Home Page Back to Top	Construction Activity Updates In Connecticut: ROUTE 57 in northern Westport will be temporarily CLOSED TO ALL TRAFFIC for SIX WEEKS beginning MONDAY, JUNE 24, while work on replacement of two bridges that carry the road over the Saugatuck and Aspetuck rivers is in progress. Motorists will be detoured around the closure via Routes 33 & 53. Signs and police will direct motorists through the detour. The Merritt Parkway between Exits 41 & 42 may also be a useful detour for some drivers. In New York: According to the NYS Dept. of Transportation's Traffic Operations Center's most recent report (6/13/96), traffic has returned to normal on the following roads: Westchester County- Sprain Brook Parkway (Greenburg/Yonkers), Rt. 117 (Mount Pleasant), Rt. 120 (Harrison). Rockland County- Convent Rd. (R.C. 26) (Nanuet), Pascack Rd. (R.C. 35)/ Scotland Hill Rd. Intersection (Nanuet).