Three years ago, Dartmouth introduced a parking buy-out plan for employees who commute, aiming to alleviate traffic and reduce pollution. This January, the Environmental Protection Agency listed the College on its most recent list of the 1,500 Best Workplaces for Commuters, which also recognized 65 schools that promote environmentally effective commuting.
The list also named Columbia University, Cornell University, Harvard University and Yale University.
"We all know that parking and congestion in the town of Hanover can be severe at times, so [it] was an attempt to make parking for employees easier," Genevieve Haas, a public affairs officer for the College, said.
Dartmouth's program, known as the Transportation Demand Management program, pays $180 a year to employees who live within three-quarters of a mile from campus and forgo a campus parking space. Employees who live even further from campus can receive $360 a year for eschewing a parking space. The College provides these monetary incentives because the cost of building and maintaining new parking lots can far exceed the cost of offering commuter benefit programs.
When it began, TDM attracted 210 employees and has since grown to include 274 employees. This past year, the number of participants in the program rose by 15 percent, largely because of rising gas prices, according to Haas.
TDM was also featured in an article in the Fall-Winter 2005 issue of the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources Journal.
The journal article highlighted practices by different universities, each with its own program tailored to the particular school's needs and location. The article lauded Yale's program as well, which offers financial incentives to employees who buy homes near campus.
Aside from the TDM program, the College offers benefits to employees who carpool or find alternatives to driving to campus alone, such as walking or riding a bike. Carpools of two people can split a TDM buyout and receive a parking tag allowing them to park in an unspecified campus spot. Carpools of three people or more not only receive the TDM buyout but are also rewarded with a designated campus parking space. Currently the College has 45 registered employee carpools, seven of which include three or more employees.
Dartmouth also sponsors bus routes for people who live farther from Hanover. Employees who use a bus to commute to campus are eligible to have the College pay for their bus tickets.
