§ 8-29.1. Definitions.

As used in this section:

Average Vehicle Ridership (AVR) shall mean the number of employees who start work at a work site during the peak period divided by the number of vehicles those employees use to arrive at the work site, averaged over the survey week as calculated pursuant to subsection 8-29.18.

BAAQMD shall mean the Bay Area Air Quality Management District.

Bicycle and Bus Incentive Program shall mean a combination of physical improvements or subsidies that promotes the use of bicycles and bus service, including, but not limited to, bicycle storage lockers, shower facilities, bike racks, bike paths, bus shelters, benches, transit passes and informational signs. A Bicycle and Bus Incentive Program shall provide a package of incentives for a minimum of five (5%) percent of employees that work within the center or employer work site. The package can be a bike only, bus only, or combination bike and bus incentive program. The bike only package shall include bike storage for five (5%) percent of employees. The bus only package shall include subsidized transit passes for five (5%) percent of employees or one (1) bus shelter for every seven hundred fifty (750) employees, or one (1) bus bench for every one hundred fifty (150) employees. The combination bike and bus package shall include some bike storage and some subsidized transit passes so that both types of incentives together cover at least five (5%) percent of employees. These facilities can be phased in twenty (20%) percent per year over a five (5) year period.

Buspool shall mean a privately operated or chartered bus which provides commute transportation on a subscription basis. This term is also known as a club bus.

Carpool shall mean a vehicle occupied by two (2) to six (6) people traveling together between their residence and their work site or destination for the majority of the total trip distance. Employees who work for different employers, as well as nonemployed people, are included within this definition as long as they are in the vehicle for the majority of the total trip distance.

Center shall mean either a commercial center or employment center as defined in this subsection.

Commercial center shall mean either:

a.

Any shopping center, or other commercial/ industrial project, predominantly retail in use, and which has two (2) or more of the following characteristics:

1.

It is known by a common name given to the project by the developer,

2.

It is governed by a common set of covenants, conditions and restrictions,

3.

It was approved, or is to be approved, by the City as a Planned Development,

4.

It is covered by a City-approved master plan;

b.

Any individual business that employs fifty (50) or more employees, which is predominantly retail in use.

Commute trip/commute shall mean the trip made by an employee to/from home to the work site during the peak period. The commute trip may include stops between home and the work site.

Compressed work week shall mean a regular full-time work schedule which eliminates at least one (1) round-trip commute trip (both home-to-work and work-to-home) at least once every two (2) weeks. Examples include, but are not limited to, working three twelve-hour days ( 3/36 ) or four ten-hour days ( 4/40 ) within a one week period; or eight nine-hour days and one eight-hour day ( 9/80 ) within a two-week period.

Cooperation agreement shall mean an agreement between a center and employers within the center to establish guidelines for meeting the requirements of this section. The following sections will be addressed in the cooperation agreement and implemented by the employers in conjunction with the center's ETR Program and pursuant to the requirements of this section:

8-29.9	Employee Notification
8-29.10	Employee Transportation Coordinator Appointment
8-29.11	Employer Program Manager Appointment
8-29.13	Employee Transportation Surveys
8-29.14	Employer Trip Reduction Program
8-29.17	Record Keeping Requirements

 

Disabled Employee shall mean, for purposes of the performance, objective calculation pursuant to subsection 8-29.18, an employee with a physical impairment which prevents the employee from traveling to the work site by means other than a vehicle and the employee has been issued a disabled person placard or plate from the Department of Motor Vehicles.

Drop-off shall mean employee who has been delivered to the work site by a vehicle which continues on a commute to another work site.

Employee shall mean any person conducting work activity for an Employer twenty (20) or more hours per week at least ninety (90) continuous days an a full-time or part-time basis. The term includes independent contractors. The term includes persons working for employer(s) located within centers. The term excludes field construction workers, field personnel, seasonal/temporary employees and volunteers.

Employee Transportation Coordinator (ETC) shall mean a qualified employee (per subsection 8-29.1 Definitions), other individual, or entity appointed by an employer or center to develop, market, administer, and monitor the Employer Trip Reduction Program and Employer Trip Reduction Plan on a full- or part-time basis.

Employee Transportation Survey shall mean a TSM committee approved questionnaire distributed by employers and centers to employees designed to provide sufficient information to calculate AVR or VER for the work site pursuant to subsections 8-29.13 and 8-29.18.

Employer shall mean any person(s), trust, firm, business, joint stock company, corporation, partnership, association, nonprofit agency or corporation, educational institution, school district, hospital or other health care facility, or federal, state, city or county government department, agency, or district, or any other special purpose public agency or district. A city, county or city and county is a single employer for purposes of this section, not individual departments or agencies of the city, county or city and county. Individual departments or agencies of the State of California and the federal government are separate employers for purposes of this section. The term includes for-profit, not-for-profit, and nonprofit enterprises. Several subsidiaries or units that occupy the same work site and report to one common governing entity or that function as one corporate unit are considered to be one employer. The term shall not include employers with no permanent work site within the City of Alameda.

Employer Program Manager shall mean an employee with policy and budget authority who is responsible for the implementation of the Employer Trip Reduction Program or Employer Trip Reduction Plan and for fulfilling the requirements of this section, on behalf of the employer or center.

Employer Trip Reduction (ETR) Plan shall mean a document describing in detail the Employer Trip Reduction Program, including an implementation schedule, budget and all the elements listed in subsection 8-29.15(a) which is submitted to the TSM Committee for review and approval pursuant to subsection 8-29.15.

Employer Trip Reduction (ETR) Program shall mean a group of measures developed and implemented by an employer or center that are designed to provide transportation information, assistance and incentives to employees. The purposes of such measures is to reduce the number of motor vehicles driven to the work site by increasing AVR or decreasing VER, and to achieve and maintain the performance objectives listed in subsection 8-29.8. An ETR Program may include, but is not limited to any or all of the following services, incentives and measures.

a.

Ridesharing .

1.

Carpool/vanpool matching;

2.

Preferential parking for carpools and vanpools;

3.

Financial subsidies or rewards to carpool/ vanpool/buspool passengers including drivers;

4.

Employer-provided vehicles for carpools and/or vanpools;

5.

Employer-sponsored vanpools;

6.

Carpool/vanpool/buspool operating subsidies, e.g., insurance, fuel, maintenance, etc.

b.

Transit .

1.

Work site transit ticket sales and information display;

2.

Financial subsidies/rewards to transit users, e.g. Commuter Check ^TM ;

3.

Transit route maps and schedules on site;

4.

Shuttle to transit line (employer-sponsored or subsidized).

c.

Trip Elimination .

1.

Compressed work weeks;

2.

Telecommuting.

d.

Parking Management .

1.

Charge for employee parking;

2.

Elimination of any employer parking financial subsidy;

3.

Transition from employer parking financial subsidy to general transportation monetary allowance for all employees;

4.

Free or reduced parking rates for carpools and vanpools only;

5.

Preferential parking for multiple-occupancy clean fuel vehicles.

e.

Bicycle and Pedestrian .

1.

Capital purchases for bicycle or pedestrian commuters including purchase of equipment for commute trip purposes;

2.

Bicycle lockers or other secure, weather-protected bicycle parking facilities;

3.

Bicycle access to building interior;

4.

Bicycle and/or walking route information;

5.

On-site bicycle registration;

6.

Employee shower facilities and clothes lockers;

7.

Financial subsidies/rewards for walking and other nonmotorized transportation modes.

f.

On-Site Facilities/Services .

1.

Site modifications that would encourage walking, transit, carpool, vanpool and/or bicycle use;

2.

On-site services to reduce mid-day vehicle trips, e.g. cafeteria, ATMs, apparel cleaning, etc.;

3.

Guaranteed return trip program;

4.

Shuttles between multiple work sites;

5.

Providing child day care at/near work site;

6.

Refueling/recharging facilities for multiple-occupancy clean fuel vehicles used for employee commute trips, e.g., electric, compressed natural gas vehicles.

g.

Promotional and Marketing Activities .

1.

Rideshare marketing campaigns;

2.

On-site transportation fair to promote commute alternatives;

3.

Participation in California Rideshare Week and Beat the Back-Up Day activities.

h.

Other .

1.

Membership in a Transportation Management Association that provides services and incentives;

2.

Establishment and employee committee to help design, develop and monitor the ETR Program;

3.

Enhanced trip reduction efforts of forecast criteria pollutant exceedance days e.g., the BAAQMD's Spare the Air Program;

4.

Financial subsidies/rewards for clean fuel vehicle used for employee commute trips including carpool and vanpool vehicles;

5.

Assistance to employees in locating their home residence within walking or bicycling distance to the work site and/or along transit routes;

6.

Assistance in the development of housing close to the work site, along transit routes, or in an employer-sponsored housing development to facilitate carpool/vanpool formation or shuttle service;

7.

Trip reduction measures to reduce non-employee vehicle trips to the work site, e.g., busing for student populations, delivery trips, etc.;

8.

Providing a TSM Information Packet to all employees once a year and to all new employees within two (2) weeks of hiring;

9.

Providing a Bicycle and Bus Incentive Program;

10.

Residential area sponsorship.

Employment center shall mean either:

a.

Any business park, or other commercial/ industrial project, predominantly nonretail in use, which has two (2) or more of the following characteristics:

1.

It is known by a common name given to the project by the developer;

2.

It is governed by a common set of covenants, conditions and restrictions;

3.

It was approved, or is to be approved, by the City as a planned development; or

4.

It is covered by a single final development plan that includes one (1) or more of the following zoning districts:

(a)

AP,

(b)

C-1, C-2, C-M,

(c)

M-1, M-2, MX;

b.

Any government or institutional facility or special district predominantly nonretail in use within the City limits which employs more than fifty (50) employees.

Field construction worker shall mean an employee who reports for work to a temporary field construction site.

Field personnel shall mean employees who spends twenty (20%) percent or less of their work time at the work site and who do not report to the work site during the peak period for pick-up and dispatch of an employer-provided vehicle.

Independent contractor shall mean an individual who enters into a direct written contract or agreement with an employer to perform certain services. The period of the contract or agreement is at least ninety (90) continuous days or is open-ended.

Peak period shall mean the time from 6:00 a.m. through 10:00 a.m. Monday through Friday inclusive.

Residential Area shall mean a group of fifty (50) or more dwelling units whose owners are required to join the same homeowners' association or else is:

a.

Known by a common name;

b.

Governed by a common set of rules;

c.

Located within a single voting precinct. Residential area sponsorship shall mean that in order to encourage residential participation and in recognition of the large contribution to peak period traffic generated by residential areas, employers or centers may collaborate with residential areas in joint programs sponsored by the employer or center. If this sponsorship is agreed to in writing and approved by the TSM Committee, then the employer or centers will be allowed to take credit for all peak period, non-SOV, residential commute trips generated by the sponsored residential area above the baseline non-SOV commute trips and count them toward their performance objectives when calculating AVR. Commuters from the residential area must use the same traffic corridors as the employer or center and must be located within one-half (1/2) mile of the sponsor.

Seasonal/temporary employees shall mean an employee who works for the employer for less than ninety (90) continuous days (three (3) months) within a calendar year.

Single occupant vehicle (SOV) shall mean a vehicle occupied by one employee.

Survey week shall mean a regular five (5) day Monday through Friday (inclusive) work-week. The survey week for work sites with Saturday and Sunday work schedules will include only those work days Monday through Friday. The survey week cannot contain a Federal, State or local holiday, regardless of whether the holiday is observed by the employer. A survey week that meets the above criteria is to be selected by the employer during the survey period as required by subsection 8-29.13. The survey week cannot be Rideshare Week or contain any other rideshare or transit promotional event, e.g., "Beat the Back-Up."

Telecommuting shall mean a system of working at home or at an off-site, non-home telecommute facility that is accessed by walking, bicycling, transit or ridesharing for the full work day on a regular basis of at least one (1) day per week.

Transportation Management Association (TMA) shall mean an organization which is sanctioned by the City, through which developers, property managers, employers and local jurisdictions cooperate in designing, implementing, and assessing ETR Programs or other Transportation Demand Management Programs and TSM programs and measures.

Transportation Marketing Centers (TMC) shall be established at Employer and Center work sites as required when submitting an ETR Plan. The TMC shall include the following: an area for display of transit information, transit ticket sales, transit schedule and route information, rideshare information, bike route information, alternative transportation promotional items and events. The TMC shall be maintained in a clean, safe and orderly condition with updated material being provided as necessary. The TMC shall be located at a high traffic volume site, at a convenient walking distance for employees, and be at street level unless otherwise approved by the TSM Committee. The TMC shall be approved by the TSM Committee as part of the ETR Plan. The TMC shall operate at least during normal work hours. This provision may be waived if the TSM Committee ascertains that the Employees of the work site would be adequately served by another facility.

Transportation Systems Management (TSM) shall mean a program to reduce demand on, and increase capacity of, the existing transportation system through better and more efficient use.

Transportation Systems Management Committee (TSM Committee) shall be established by the City to monitor, review and make recommendations on the adequacy of each participant's efforts. The Committee shall be composed of Employee Transportation Coordinators from three (3) appointed employment centers, two (2) appointed commercial centers, two (2) appointed employers of fifty (50) or more employees and the City's TSM Administrator (as designated by the City Manager), the Mayor or his/her appointee and three (3) citizens appointed at large. The three (3) citizens appointed at large shall be nominated by the Mayor and appointed by the City Council.

Transportation Systems Management Fund (TSM Fund) shall mean the City's budgeted allowance for planning and implementing transportation systems management strategies.

Transportation Systems Management Information Packet (TSM Packet) shall mean a resource provided to employees which contains AC Transit and BART route and schedule information, bike route maps, carpool matching services information and information on other available transit services. The TSM packet shall be approved by the TSM Committee. Alternative forms of distributing comparable information may be used with approval by TSM Committee.

Vanpool shall mean a vehicle occupied by seven (7) to fifteen (15) employees including the driver who commute together to work for the majority of their individual commute trip distance. Employees who work for different employers are included within this definition as long as they are in the vehicle for the majority of their individual trip distance.

Vehicle shall mean a device by which any person or property may be propelled, moved or drawn upon a highway, except the following: (1) a device moved exclusively by human power, (2) a device used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks, (3) buses used for public or private transit. Examples for vehicles include, but are not limited to, passenger cars, motorcycles, vans and pickup trucks.

Vehicle Employee Ratio (VER) shall mean the number of vehicles used by employees who start work at a work site during the peak period divided by the number of those employees averaged over the survey week as calculated pursuant to subsection 8.29.18. VER is the reciprocal of AVR.

Volunteer shall mean an individual who does not receive any wages, salary, or other form of financial reimbursement from the employer for services provided.

Work activity shall mean any activity for which an employee received remuneration from an employer. Telecommuting is a work activity.

Work site shall mean any property, real or personal, which is being operated, utilized, maintained, or owned by an employer as part of an identifiable enterprise. All property on contiguous, adjacent or proximate sites separated only by a private or public right-of-way, served by a common circulation or access system, and not separated by an impassable barrier to bicycle or pedestrian travel such as a freeway or flood control channel is included as part of the work site. If two or more employers each have one hundred (100) or more employees at a single work site, then that work site is considered a separate work site for each employer.

(Ord. No. 2670 N.S. § 2)