Did you know that over 20 commercial office buildings, as well as several hotels and schools in Arlington, are required to provide designated spaces in their parking garage for employee carpools and vanpools?
What's So Great About Carpooling?
This element is part of the Transportation Managament Plan portiof of the approved site plan conditions, and typically states that parking spaces for pools must be:
- In preferred spots close to the elevatrors or entrance
- Registered participants should be offered either free or discounted monthly parking rates
The carpool/vanpool parking condition is intended to:
- Encourage building users to rideshare and lessen the number of single occupancy vehicles (SOV) commuting to the properties.
- Reduce congestion and the traffic impact from properties.
How can your building promote options?
According to the initial findings of the 2016 State of the Commute, around 5.4% of people who work in Arlington commute in a carpool or vanpool. So how can buildings get the word out about available parking spaces with free or discounted rates?
Most properties with ‘pool parking require that at least 1 person in the carpool or vanpool work in the building; however, many building users may not be aware of the available spaces in the garage or special discounted rates. With Arlington Transportation Partners' (ATP) assistance, properties can market their programs to tenants and their employees in a number of ways. These include:
- Post flyers, postcards, promotional materials in lobbies and elevators
- Host building events to distribute information and register ‘pools
- Share program details with tenant representatives at quarterly roundtable meetings
- Encourage tenants to submit employee zip codes for ridematching density maps to determine potential for carpools or vanpools
For Arlington commuters who are not already in a vanpool – there is a way to check and see if your building has a vanpool program in place. You could be missing out on some great benefits! Visit JoinAVanpool.com to learn more.
Photo Credit: Sam Kittner/Kittner.com for Arlington Transportation Partners
