The Issues:
- Business expansions, such as increases in staff, can put pressure on facilities and parking. Lack of expansion room results in the tradeoff of hampered operations or relocation.
Relocation often means moving expenses, including new facilities and loss of valued employees who face new, longer commute times.- Relocation expenses can average up to $3,000 per employee. (Source: Association for Commuter Transportation, TDM Review)
- Relocation can often mean longer, more stressful, and more costly commutes. It can also mean staff without their own transportation may not be able to reach a new site.
Creating easier commuting options by implementing commuter benefits programs may be your ticket to a less costly relocation, or even avoiding relocation completely. Programs such as teleworking can reduce the need for costly office space and therefore reduce the need for moving. And if a move is unavoidable, commuter benefits can help ease the stress and cost of a longer commute, often resulting in higher retention and better morale.
Listed below are just a few of the commuter benefits you can offer to help resolve expansion and relocation issues:
- Design a formal or informal telework program. Allowing your employees to work from home or from a telework center can reduce the need for additional office space, and prevent the stress of a new, longer commute.
- Provide information and ridematching services for carpools and vanpools, and implement a Guaranteed Ride Home program. Support your employees' decisions to use commuting alternatives such as carpools and vanpools by making sure they can get home when an emergency arises.
- Provide tax-free transit benefits to help your employees cover the cost of commuting on Metrorail, VRE, MARC, local and commuter buses, and vanpools. Tax-free transit benefits save you money in payroll taxes, and encourage your employees to use alternate forms of transportation other than driving alone.