Transportation Update Winter 2008 Green Traveler Green Traveler has enjoyed a boost with many new users looking for easy ways to save money and go green. NEW FEATURE MATCH TO BUS ROUTES The Green Traveler website now links users with transit routes they can use for their daily commute. This feature also tells you the distance to the bus stop closest to you. If you already have an account, your transit matches will be displayed below your carpool matches. If you don t have an account, click the create an account button on our website: www.green-traveler.org. COMMUTER CHALLENGE In August, Green Traveler sponsored a Commuter Challenge. Green Traveler users were encouraged to log one trip per week for a month using the Green Traveler commute tracker. Commuter Challenge participants saved 845 trips and 3,221 gallons of fuel. They also saved money - over $27,000 and reduced total emissions by 64,505 lbs. Congratulations to everyone who participated, including eight winners who received commuter prize packs. Grand prize winner Melissa Hart carpooled once a week through the month of August to win a $50 gas card. NEW PORTALS The Green Traveler website offers employers the opportunity to get a companyspecific portal that is easier for employees to use. The City of Tulsa and Tulsa County have already started using their portals, and the number of users is growing. For more information on starting a portal for your company, email Green Traveler at traveler@incog.org. BIKE TO WORK Congratulations to Doug Watchman and William Taylor, winners for this year s Bike to Work season. Douglas logged over 1,200 miles, and William logged 85 commuting trips. This year s Bike to Work season extended into October thanks to a pancake breakfast hosted by First United Methodist Church in downtown Tulsa. Thanks to FUMC and all the bicycle commuters who participated.
State Fair The Tulsa State Fair offered a great opportunity to ask the region s residents what they think are the region s transportation priorities. WHAT WOULD YOU DO WITH $100? Visitors to the INCOG booth at this year s Tulsa State Fair had the opportunity to provide feedback through two surveys. In the first, visitors were given $100 in play money to divide among six transportation categories: Roadway Construction, Roadway Maintenance, Rail Transit, Public Transit, Bicycle Facilities, and Sidewalks. TOUCHSCREEN SUR- VEY The second opportunity for feedback was a nine question touchscreen survey on transportation preferences. To see all the results, visit www.incog.org/ transportation. The graph to the right shows responses from participants in the 2006 Transportation Survey, PlaniTulsa Survey, 2008 Tulsa State Fair survey, and 2008 Transportation Survey. Take the survey at www.incog.org/transportation/websurvey.htm
Scientific Survey To learn more about the transportation habits and preferences of area residents, INCOG conducted a scientific transportation survey of over 800 households in 2008 and 2006. To see more questions and responses, visit www.incog.org/transportation.
Are any members of your household who are age 16 and older dependent on public transit or rides from friends/relatives because they do not have a car or do not drive?
How Important Is It for Elected Leaders in the Region to Encourage the Development of Alternatives to the Single Occupant Car? by percentage of respondents
How residents thought the current level of Roadways Funding in the Tulsa area should change over the next five years
How residents thought the current level of funding for Public Transportation in the Tulsa area should change over the next five years
Rail Report Coordinated Plan The Indian Nations Council of Governments (INCOG) has been working on exploring possible alternatives for improving the transportation mobility of the population of the Tulsa region. INCOG recognizes that the implementation of rail transit in the region can boost economic development and address the region's future travel needs. The Rail Transit Strategic Plan's objective is to provide a framework for passenger rail implementation in the Tulsa Transportation Management Area (TMA). In April 2007, the INCOG Transportation Policy Committee designated an Ad Hoc Committee to analyze existing rail corridors in the area for their use for rail transit service. The Ad Hoc Committee assessed multimodal transportation system opportunities within designated corridors that significantly impact the travel demand, economic vitality, safety, and livability of the Tulsa region. The Committee recommended a series of actions that promotes the development of a regional transportation system and presented them for consideration by the INCOG Transportation Policy Committee and the INCOG Board of Directors. For a copy of the plan, visit www.incog.org/transportation. The Regional Council for Coordinated Transportation (RCCT) was created to oversee the implementation and further promotion of the plan in the Tulsa Transportation Management Area (TMA). The RCCT is composed of representatives from human service organizations, local governments, public and private transit providers, and non-profit and government organizations that provide services and advocacy for low income individuals, persons with disabilities, and elderly individuals. The RCCT guided INCOG in awarding $857,019 in Federal Funds to Morton Health Services and the Metropolitan Tulsa Transit Authority to improve regional transportation for elderly individuals, low-income individuals, and persons with disabilities. A team from the Tulsa RCCT was selected from a competitive group of applicants to participate in the Institute on Transportation Coordination in Washington, DC. A vision statement and an action plan for the region have to be developed and presented at the Institute for implementation in the Tulsa region over the next 12 months. For more information on the Coordinated Plan and the RCCT s upcoming meetings, visit www.incog.org/ transportation and click on the Coordinated Plan link.