Millions of people are breathing polluted air while driving to work, running in the park and even inside their homes. Atlanta is ranked as one of the top cities in the U.S. for high levels of air pollution, but a large percentage of residents are unaware of the problem. In response to the city’s poor quality air standards Georgia Commute Options has created “Gimme Five,” which serves as an incentive program for residents who use alternative transportation options. According to company spokesperson Natalie Dale, taking an alternative form of transportation can decrease not only air pollution but also the amount of time spent in traffic.
“The primary objective when this program originally started was to reduce pollutants in the air and it has grown since then. We have steadily been growing the amount of commuters who have joined the program and have seen a 31 percent increase in membership in the past few months,” says Dale. Rolling out spoke with her more to find out more information on “Gimme Five,” the benefits of joining the program, and the importance of ride sharing.
What is the concept behind Georgia Commute Options?
Georgia Commute Options is a program of the Georgia Department of Transportation. It was started around the Olympics as a way to encourage motorists to take an alternate form of transportation rather than a single vehicle trip. We are getting funding through the federal government’s Congestion Mitigation Air Quality Act. That is actually for cities that don’t meet federal air quality standards. It’s great that we get funding to promote alternate forms of transit but the reason we get it is because our air quality is so bad in metro Atlanta. This is one way that we can work to improve things.
How will the benefits be measured?
We do a lot of work with the Atlanta Regional Commission to measure traffic wait times and how many people are getting involved with the program. We also measure how many companies both large and small get in the program. We look at how our membership has grown and we look at how many pounds of pollutants we get out of the air based on how many cars we get off the road today. There are a lot of different measurables as far as when people join the program. There are also benefits to companies tax-wise and the program is free of charge. Our services are free for anyone who wants to get involved.
Who is responsible for the payouts?
The commuter incentives are paid out through the funding that we get through the federal government. It doesn’t come from the department budget. Right now, we are doing a “Gimme Five” program, which is for commuters that are new to the program and haven’t used an alternate form of transportation. For those who join the program they can earn up to $5 a day and all the way up to $150 dollars just for trying a new form of transportation. We want to expand people’s horizons when they think about getting to work. We set up things like teleworking programs, car pooling, biking, transit etc. We look at their commute and how they can take an alternate form of transit. We have seen that 85 percent of commuters continue that alternate form of transportation after trying for about six to 24 months after they to continue to use the incentive program.
How will program participants receive their benefits for the incentive program?
They receive their benefits through email. We have a vendor called Virtual Incentives and they email them a notification after they have won a prize, earned $150 dollars or some other benefit. They also have the option of having a virtual visa gift card and can request a physical one to be sent to their home.
