The Navy has entered into an agreement with the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) iCommute Program to promote the use of alternative means of commuting by the personnel and employees of Naval Base Coronado. The program will run through September 2015. The goal is to achieve a one percent reduction in the number of vehicles that pass through the gates of the bases.
The Navy and SANDAG will conduct targeted marketing and outreach to encourage greater participation in the Navy’s Transportation Incentive Program (TIP). Military personnel and civilian employees of the Navy are eligible to participate in TIP. The program pays participants up to $130 a month to take public transportation and to commute to and from work via vanpools. The vans are provided by vendors who are under contract to SANDAG. As of September 12, 2014 iCommute (http://icommutesd.com/docs/default-source/vanpool/vanpoolseatsavailable112014.pdf?sfvrsn=2) reported that there were several available seats in vanpools to NASNI that originated in communities ranging from Chula Vista to Murrieta. Presently there are 852 TIP participants including 567 members of 92 vanpools and 285 who take public transportation. The ambition is to add another 300 participants. In addition to promoting TIP, the outreach will include registration drives to increase the number of enrollees in SANDAG’s iCommute Guaranteed Ride Home Program. The goal is double the current registration to 150 workers.
Right: Typical Traffic on Third Street
To encourage employees to take public transportation, the Naval Air Station North Island (NASNI) shuttle service has been expanded. It now operates during both the morning and afternoon rush hours. To encourage cycling to work, bike lanes are being added to the roads on NASNI. The goal is to coordinate the placement of these lanes with the bike routes in Coronado in order to provide an integrated network.
In October promotional activities included a “ride share” fair on NASNI and a “bike to base” day. A van provider was on hand to explain the program and a local bike shop provided safety training for cyclists and offered “tune ups” for their bikes. Events on the different bases and at Navy housing areas are planned for each month. The concept is that increased awareness will lead to increased participation in the programs, which will result in a reduction in the volume of traffic.
The program was presented to the Transportation Commission at its November 13, 2014 meeting by Wes Bomyea, Community Plans & Liaison, Naval Base Coronado. It was subsequently presented to the Mayor, City Manager, City Council member Mike Woiwode, and Coronado’s Director of Engineering Ed Walton at the Naval Complexes Meeting on November 17, 2014. At the complexes meeting, Captain Sund, the commanding officer of Naval Base Coronado, stated that traffic congestion is a shared concern and, “that nothing good results if the traffic to the bases is queued up.”
The Captain went on to explain that a Traffic Advisory Committee consisting of high ranking officers has been formed. The committee will meet quarterly. It will address the ability to stagger more effectively work hours on the bases to reduce the congestion during the morning and afternoon peak periods. Captain Sund explained that the last major effort to stagger work hours occurred when two aircraft carriers were in port for an extended period.
The impetus for the agreement with SANDAG was a commuter survey that was conducted by the Navy in October/November 2012. Over 2,600 Navy commuters responded to the survey, over 70 percent of whom commute to NASNI and about 25 percent commute to the Naval Amphibious Base. Almost 80 percent of the commuters take the bridge to work and the vast majority drive by themselves. What motivated the agreement between the Navy and SANDAG is that only a small number of the respondents knew about SANDAG’s iCommute program, the Navy’s Transportation Incentive Program, and the availability of vanpool subsidies. At the same time meaningful percentages of the respondents indicated that they would consider alternative modes of commuting if they had help finding carpool partners, received transit subsidies, had access to a guaranteed ride home in the event of an emergency, and a vehicle was available during the day for work travel.
The goal of SANDAG’s iCommute program is to promote alternative choices for commuters that will reduce traffic congestion during the peak rush hours. These efforts will also reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental pollutants that result from commuter traffic. The program provides information on car sharing programs such as car2go and Zipcar; facilitates the formation of carpools by providing tools to identify carpool partners and to estimate the savings from carpooling and by offering a guaranteed ride home program; provides vans through contracted vendors and offers subsidies to offset the cost of leasing the vans; and promotes and supports the use of public transportation, biking to work, and teleworking.
John Tato
Staff Writer
eCoronado.com
