DartmouthCommuting

Vermont Transportation Forum next week

One of the issues raised at the Dartmouth Commuting Forum concerned public input in state transportation planning. 

Towards that end, the Vermont Department of Transportation will be holding a series of public meeting this month on their "Short-Range Transportation Plan."  This meeting will outline what services are currently being offered and, most importantly, provide an opportunity for anyone to offer ideas for improving service.

For Dartmouth employees living in Vermont, there are two meetings they should consider attending: the first occurs on Wednesday, July 16th at 7pm in Royalton, VT at the Royalton Academy Building.  The focus of that meeting will be services currently provided by Stagecoach Transportation.

The second relevant meeting will be held on Tuesday, July 22nd at 5pm in Weathersfield, VT in Memorial Hall.  That meeting will focus on transportation services provided by Connecticut River Transit.

Finally, keep in mind that Vermont DOT has also scheduled a tentative meeting on Monday, July 21st about Advanced Transit.  The location and time of that meeting has not been announced, but check their website here to get the latest information. 

A New Standard?: The 4-Day Work Week

Hope everyone had a nice Fourth of July weekend. 

While enjoying the time off, I notice that a lot of organizations are moving to a four-day work week.

For instance, the town clerk's office of Middlebury, VT has embarked on a two-month pilot program beginning this week for the summer. 

In the Granite State, the public works department for the city of Concord will begin a four-day pilot program this month.  The town of Chesterfield, NH has already switched to a four-day work week, as has the highway department for the town of Madison, NH.

Further west, across the Mississippi, some 80% of the state workers in Utah have made the switch to a four-day work week.  While employees at the state's public universities are not included, it will be interesting to see if the change includes them over time. 

According to one report, Oklahoma State University is considering a four-day work week for all of its employees this summer.

And, as we know here at Dartmouth, non-exempt staff in the Admissions Office have begun a four-day work week pilot program for the summer, too. 

Should more people be doing this at Dartmouth and in the Upper Valley?  One of the attendees from the commuting breakfast suggested that a four-day work week also might require expanding the schedule for the AT and other transportation providers. 

Let me know if you hear about other innovative workplace programs underway to consider, as well as the benefits & drawbacks to the four-day work week at Dartmouth.
 

Commuting Video!

Here, finally, is the video created for the Dartmouth Commuting Breakfast on June 28th.

It's not a production worthy of comparison to Hitchcock, Spielberg, or Lynch, but it was fun to make.  More importantly, it's meant to get everyone in the Dartmouth community thinking about how each of us can do a better job with commuting.

There have been a number of internal meetings since June 28th about how to move forward with some very practical ideas.  I hope that next week, or shortly thereafter, we can begin to announce some concrete initiatives that will build on the enthusiasm found at the June 28th breakfast.

In the meantime, as we enjoy the July 4th holiday, please enjoy this video.