Keeling Curve

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Project Summary / Description:

easy commute is a commuter incentives and benefits program that provides employees with an online tool to find rideshare and carpool opportunities and see the tangible environmental impacts of their actions. It displays real time results including vehicle cost savings, fuel reduction, and eliminations in emissions, vehicle trips, and miles. easy commute was created in 2009 in response to Foxcorp Holdings LLC (FOX) looking for a fully managed commuter program to help them track and reduce their carbon emissions. TRC created easy commute to meet FOX‚ needs while being scalable, configurable, and adaptable for future clients. Branded as Foxcommute, easy commute‚ first launch saw an 80% participation rate among FOX‚ employees, proving the effectiveness of the program in incentivizing sustainable transportation habits.

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How Project Affects Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions:

Reduces GHGs (e.g., projects that reduce sources of GHGs, such as through efficiency or other changes in consumption)

Best Estimate of GHG Avoidance/Reduction of This Project (Tonnes CO2 Equivalent/Year):

Impact on Underrepresented Groups:

easy commute empowers climate vulnerable workers by easing the burdens of commuting and equipping commuters with resources and sustainable habits.

As reported by the U.S. government‚ Fourth National Climate Assessment, lower-income individuals have less access to information, resources, institutions, and other factors to prepare for and avoid the health risks of climate change (page 548) and live in neighborhoods with the greatest exposure to climate and extreme weather events (page 1063). Many commuters who use easy commute occupy low-to-middle income positions that include baristas, plumbers, dishwashers, security officers, and cooks. Their workplaces are usually located in metropolitan regions like Los Angeles and Chicago, where air quality is a concern and housing is prohibitively expensive near business districts. Employees who cannot afford to live near their workplaces must find housing far from metropolitan centers. Our data shows a mail services clerk in California who traveled 134 miles per day between their home and their L.A. workplace from January to February 2019.

Through its incentives, easy commute reduces and often eliminates the financial and indirect costs of commuting, including those of gasoline, oil, vehicle maintenance, insurance, transit fare, time, and physical and mental energy. One participant described how easy commute covered their $5 per day round trip commute, translating to over $1000 per year. Participants have stated that easy commute provides them an affordable opportunity to reduce their carbon footprints and contribute to environmental causes. They become better prepared to find and use transportation options that affordably combat climate change.

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Mission Statement:

In addition to easy commute, The Rideshare Company (TRC) operates two vehicle lease programs, easy fleet and easygreencarpools(R), and a rideshare consulting program that assists organizations with establishing long-term transportation solutions. TRC serves clients in U.S. states such as Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, Indiana, and Florida. easy commute in particular has served businesses in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, Dallas, Chicago, Washington, D.C.; Evanston, Illinois; and Evergreen, Colorado.