The following organizations were announced as winners of the 2012 Clean Commute Contest on June 5th, 2012 at the Maryland Green Registry Membership and Awards Event at the Robinson Nature Center in Columbia, MD.
Winners:
Havre de Grace Seafood Festival
Havre de Grace Seafood Festival, an August event featuring Chesapeake Bay seafood speciaties, was recognized for having the highest percentage reduction in employee vehicle commute miles. They reduced 69% of their employee commute travel through teleworking and efficient use of virtual meetings. In addition, they use a Smart car for business travel and encourage the use of shuttles at their annual event .
GEICO
GEICO was recognized for having the highest actual reduction in employee vehicle commute miles. Their corporate headquarters, located near a Metro stop in Chevy Chase, Maryland, offers subsidies for Metro riders and Zip Car users, bike racks, showers, and van pools for employees living in the same area. These incentives have led to a 6.4 million mile reduction in employee vehicle commute miles on an annual basis.
Finalists:
Beveridge & Diamond
Many of Beveridge & Diamond's employees have chosen to live in Baltimore and be close enough to be able to walk, run, bike and take public transportation to work. The firm supports public transportation use by allowing flexibility in work schedules to coincide with public transit schedules and encourages telecommuting where possible.
City of College Park
The City has achieved reduction in employee vehicle commute miles by offering transit subsidies and by encouraging biking, carpooling and compressed work weeks.
E-Structors, Inc.
E-Structors supports its employees that ride share and use public transit to work by assisting them in signing up for the guaranteed ride home program.
Green Generation Solutions
Two-thirds of the staff walks, bikes or takes mass transit to the office, which is located near a Metro station shuttle stop. The office also supports telecommuting and biking by providing bike racks and storage and the CEO drives a Volt, a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle.
The Brick Companies
The company encourages coordination of ridesharing to business meetings, lunches and off-site events. They also encourage and recognize employees that purchase hybrid vehicles and carbon offsets for vehicle travel.
