Last week, Arlington Transportation Partners recognized 27 of our 65 Platinum Champions in front of the Arlington County Board. Always our final event of the Champions season, Platinum Champions have a chance to be honored specifically by the Board Chair and the County Board for their hard work throughout the year. In addition to the County Board, our Champions also had the honor of being recognized by Arlington County Director of Transportation, Dennis Leach, and Arlington County Commuter Services Bureau Chief, Larry Filler.
Champions began in 2013, with 31 organizations participating and has grown to include 241 Champions in 2015. The incredible growth in the program over the last three years – 96% increase in the last year alone – is a testament to the importance of transportation choice to the Arlington way of life. Whether a person lives and/or works in Arlington, decreasing the overall dependence on car-only travel is a goal that benefits all.
Achieving Platinum status is no small feat and many of the high achieving companies undertook great efforts to earn Platinum Level designation. All companies recognized in front of the Board offer a subsidized transit benefit so employees can affordably make the healthy and environmentally-conscious choice to commute by transit, a more sustainable transportation mode. This is an invaluable aid in the County’s efforts to combat air pollution and traffic congestion by minimizing the need for people to commute via car.
Many of the Platinum Level Champions in attendance last week display a strong commitment to active transportation through bike amenities like secure storage and maintenance racks, establishing Capital Bikeshare corporate accounts that allow employees/residents access to discounted annual bikeshare memberships and even paying for bike tune-up days for employees.
Additionally, many multi-family residential Platinum Champions offer shuttle service to their nearest Metro stop to further cut down on car use while also installing real-time transit information displays from the Arlington-based tech startup, TransitScreen, to make it easier for residents to plan their trips.
We can’t say thank you enough to our Champions and partners as the program continues to grow and we look forward to an even more successful 2016!
If your business or property hasn’t re-enrolled yet or if you’re interested in joining top Arlington businesses, email us at solutions@transpartners.com.
