DartmouthCommuting

An Update on the 4-Day Work Week in NH

One of the more interesting innovations from the spike in gas prices came with organizations, big and small, adopting four-day work weeks.  With gas prices down significantly since the summer, one might think that idea would now become passe.

Not so, according to the city of Concord, NH.  According to this story, their experiment with a four-day workweek was a big success in terms of cost-savings this summer.  In fact, it was enough of a success to cause the city to decide it will implement the program in the Spring of 2009.

Will other organizations who adopted four-day work weeks also follow suit?  Stay tuned.

Winter Bike Commuters Unite!

An Upper Valley neighbor has just started an email discussion list for anyone in the Upper Valley who will commute to work this winter by bike.

Known as "uvChainGrease," the list is intended kick-off the winter commuting season.  Check out the list info page:

http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/uvchaingrease

To subscribe, send a blank email to:
uvchaingrease-subscribe@lists.riseup.net

Here's hoping the list will include Associate Professor Sean Smith of the Computer Science department at Dartmouth -- one of the most avid winter bikers I know.

Meet the NH Transportation Commissioner

A public meeting will be held on Tuesday, October 14th, with New Hampshires's new Commissioner of Transportation, George Campbell.

This is Commissioner Campbell's first visit to the Upper Valley, and a great opportunity for Dartmouth employees and other community members to talk about transportation and commuting issues in the Upper Valley.  Commissioner Campbell has an extensive work experience in the public sector (see here for more information about his bio).

The meeting will be held from 4-6pm in the Lebanon Senior Center (10 Campbell Street, Lebanon, NH...click here for a map).

Hope to see you there.

Two More Van Pools Get Started

It's been quiet on the blog front, but active behind-the-scenes as work continues at Dartmouth to improve alternative commuting options for members of the Dartmouth community.

Starting next week, two additional van pools will get started.  One van pool will come from New London, NH, traveling north from I-89 and stop at the park-and-rides in New London and Grantham, NH.  The other van pool will start in Chlesea,  VT with stops in Vershire and West Fairlee, VT.

We still have two van pools in the wings from the I-89 route (Grantham, New London).  Contact Bill Barr in Parking if you are interested in joining one of these prospective van pools.

Prospective Van Poolers in the Upper Valley

We've gotten more than 60 Dartmouth employees indicating interest in joining a van pool in the Upper Valley.

The map below shows the current location of those employees.  Blue dots indicate Dartmouth employees commuting to the Hanover campus; red dots indicate Dartmouth employees at Centerra.  Yellow dots indicate DHMC-based employees of Dartmouth.

View Larger Map

Based on these responses, we've begun to organize an I-89 van pool from the area of Corinth & Bradford, VT (and Piermont, NH).  We also see a potential group of van poolers along I-89 in New Hampshire near Grantham, Enfield, and New London. 

If you are interested in joining one of these prospective groups, or forming a group from a different area of the Upper Valley, please complete the van pool survey here.  It only takes a minute and we will be in touch as soon as a prospective van pool becomes apparent.

Drive Less, Save More

Like many of you, I began to commute in a different way since gas hit $4/gallon earlier this summer, sharing the ride from Lyme to Hanover with my wife, Elizabeth.  And in the aggregate, it's beginning to make a difference.

Last week the Federal Highway Administration announced that Americans drove 12.2 billion fewer miles in June 2008 than they did in June 2007.  Since November 2007, Americans have driven 53.2 billion fewer miles than a year ago. 

No doubt reduced demand is one of the reasons that gas prices have fallen in recent weeks.  Will demand continue to fall?  Or will falling prices bring back demand?

As Business Week explored a few issues ago, there is a case to be made for higher oil prices.  I will let you do the reading about why, but suffice to say this blog and the recent Dartmouth community initiatives would not exist were it not for $4 gasoline.

Dartmouth Guidelines on Flexible Work Schedules

One response to the rising cost of commuting involves the adoption of flexible work schedules. 

The Admissions Office at Dartmouth has been experimenting this summer, for instance, with a four-day work-week for its non-exempt staff. 

As I posted in earlier blog, the practice has also been adopted by wide variety of organizations and businesses throughout the United States.  This August 7th article from the New York Times details more innovative practices involving workplaces and commuting. 

Last month (while I was vacation), Dartmouth issued some broad guidelines to managers about adopting flexible work schedules.  Keeping in mind that "...flex schedules may work for some individuals or
workgroups, but not all," the Dartmouth guidelines are meant to "encourage managers to be more open to such arrangements, particularly on a short term/trial basis."

This is great news.  To learn more, take a look at the guidelines here.

New Commuting Initiatives Launched at Dartmouth

I hinted about this news last week, and am thrilled to unveil some of the work that has been occurring behind the scenes at Dartmouth since the Commuting Breakfast held at the end of June. 

We're delighted to unveil these new commuting initiatives around Zip Cars, free shower passes, and van pools, and hope it's just the start in a series of efforts to help Dartmouth employees get to work in a manner that is less expensive and more green.

Anyone interested in van pools should definitely complete this survey so that we can begin to organize prospective members.  It takes less than a minute to complete and the more Dartmouth employees who complete it, the better chance we will have to organize van pools. 

Boston gets its first bike lanes

Turns out Hanover, and the Upper Valley, seem to be doing pretty well compared to Boston in terms of bike lanes.

There is a story in today's Boston Globe about the first-ever bike lanes will be unveiled later this month.  Located (interestingly enough) near Boston University as well as near Franklin Park, the bike lanes amount to a total of 3.2 miles. 

Together with the installation of bike racks capable of holding a total of 250 bikes through the city, it's the first step for Beantown in its efforts to get serious about pedal commuting.  The city even has a "Director of Bicycle Programs." 

Anyone know exactly how many miles of bike lanes there are in Hanover?  In the Upper Valley?

A quick update

I've been away for a while on holiday, hence the radio blog silence for the past few weeks.  Got a couple of commuting items to share.

* First, while I was away in southern Maine, I had the chance to watch gas prices fall generally and to observe how varied gas prices are specifically in different parts of the Granite State. The area between Concord and Northwood seems particularly good in terms of gas prices, with most retailers selling for 20 cents below what I would see either in the Upper Valley or closer to the Portsmouth region.  Anyone have ideas about why that is the case?  This website lists gas prices throughout New Hampshire, and it would seem as though proximity to the Seacoast is one (but not the only) factor.

*Second, although this blog has been silent, a number of people have been working quietly but diligently to follow-up the Dartmouth Commuting Meeting in late June with some specific new initiatives.  These things always take longer than one might expect or hope, but look for an announcement in D2U in a few days (or less) about these new initiatives. 

* Finally, at least on Upper Valley car dealership and service center has begun to innovate on the issue of transportation.  The Car Store of Norwich, Vermont now offers its patrons free use of a bicycles (complete with helmets and bike locks) to use while their car is being serviced.  Great idea!  Instead of waiting in the lobby area, or asking for a ride to and from the store, customers can get themselves to work and return in the evening to the Car Store.