News

Commuter Services of North Florida’s quarterly Advisory Board meeting will be held this Thursday, Dec. 8, from 10:30 am to 11:30 am. The location of the meeting is the Council on Culture and Arts (COCA) Offices at 816 S. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. This meeting is open to the public, but please RSVP no later than Wednesday, Dec. 7 at 12:00 pm.

FSU now offers several transportation helps to make getting around (and parking) easier! Students, faculty and staff are all invited to participate in these new programs:

ZipCar allows you to rent a car by the hour. You can carpool or take the bus to get to campus and have a very affordable ride reserved to drive to your lunch meeting or dental appointment. Check it out!

ZimRide is a place to find or offer rides to class, to the game, or home for the holidays. This is a Facebook group for FSU only and, since you use your FSU ID to log in, you get to see who’s who—and save parking hassles and gas money at the same time.

FSU reCycle is a bike rental program that will loan you a fully-equipped bicycle to use for the semester, for a ridiculously low fee. You get a helmet, light kit, security lock and a little handbook of bicycle laws—everything you need to get to class or wherever safely; plus, free workout!

Remember too, using any ‘green commute’ option at least 3 days a week means you can register for Commuter Services FREE Emergency Ride Home Program. If you get sick, stranded, or stuck in a storm, members of the ERHP get a free Yellow Cab ride home.

We’ve had a lot of questions lately regarding how our Emergency Ride Home Program works. In this post we will address some of the most common questions we receive.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Why do I have to register ahead of time? Our arrangement with Yellow Cab is that participants give the driver our voucher, which they will accept as cash and bill to us. You must have one of our vouchers in hand in order to have the bill sent to Commuter Services.
• What if I live far away? If you live or work in our service area, your voucher will cover the cost of one emergency cab ride home, regardless of the distance.
• How many vouchers do I get? One. Each voucher is good for one emergency ride home. People rarely use more than one a year and, since our participants are so responsible, we can be flexible if an individual needs to use an additional voucher from time to time. When we receive and validate the receipt (yellow copy), another voucher will be issued.
• Can I give my voucher to someone else who needs it? No; each voucher is assigned to an individual commuter registered in our system and any bill submitted under another name will be rejected for payment. What you can do is tell your friends and co-workers about the program and how they can register, too!

Be Prepared

Log into your profile on EZ Ride periodically and do a quick search for new matches. Reach out to co-workers or neighbors and introduce yourself. If you feel comfortable, ask them if you might call on them for a ride home sometime, ‘just in case’. This is also a great way to handle ‘driver out of town’ situations; many people are happy to pool occasionally or temporarily, even if they don’t care to on a regular basis.

Keep track of your voucher; look in on it once in a while and let us know if it gets lost. It’s much better to get a replacement sent out in the mail ahead of time, than discover it missing when you need it!

Be ready for seasonal weather; carry an umbrella with you. That way, you can still walk or wait for the bus in a drizzle—and save your voucher for a thunderstorm.

We appreciate that our participants are careful and responsible in their use of the program. We don’t want to discourage anyone from using their voucher—that’s what it’s there for! We simply want to be clear on what the guidelines are so that we can offer the benefits of a quick, safe ride home to every qualified commuter who needs one.

If there’s ever a question of your health or safety, go ahead and use your voucher! Any clarifications can be sorted out after the fact.

If you have other questions, give us a call toll-free at 1-888-454-RIDE(7433).

We’ve had a lot of questions lately about when (and how often) it’s okay to use our Emergency Ride Home Program. Keeping in mind that each situation is unique and you are responsible for using your own good judgment.

Frequently Asked Questions

• How many vouchers do I get? One. Each voucher is good for one emergency ride home. People rarely use more than one a year and, since our participants are so responsible, we can be flexible if an individual needs to use an additional voucher from time to time. If you find your transportation arrangement isn’t really working for you, let us know right away; we’re happy to help you find a more reliable way to travel so you won’t need to worry about too-frequent ‘emergencies’.
• Can I use my voucher to get TO work? Sorry, no. In order to keep costs reasonable, we have to limit use to work-to-home trips only (you may stop at school to pick up a sick child on the way). If you have any questions about what qualifies, please call Commuter Services at 1-888-454-RIDE(7433). Using your voucher to get to work, home from parties or other inappropriate trips will result in your bill being returned to you for payment.
• How about a doctor’s appointment? An appointment would be a scheduled disruption; if you know your usual ride isn’t going to suit you on a particular day, make a back-up arrangement ahead of time. Of course, if the situation is unexpected (you receive word that you need to meet your spouse or child at the hospital), you may use your voucher to get you there from work—and then make your own arrangements for getting home.
• What do I do when my carpool partner goes on vacation? As soon as you know, log into your EZ Ride profile and do a quick search for new matches. Reach out to those co-workers or neighbors and introduce yourself. If you feel comfortable, ask about sharing a ride for a few days; many people are happy to pool occasionally or temporarily, even if they don’t care to on a regular basis.
• What if my ride is keeping me waiting? Please try to be flexible. Honestly, pooling does sometimes involve minor inconveniences. It’s helpful if you keep a snack and a book with you for the occasional delay. If mis-matching schedules become a problem, speak up! And you may want to visit your EZ Ride profile to see if someone new is a better match.
• Is bad weather or darkness a valid reason? If a friend or roommate can pick you up and you have a safe place to wait—great. If you can’t reach anyone or you are anxious about your location or severe weather, by all means, use your voucher.
• What if my shift doesn’t end until after the buses quit running for the day? If your regular schedule means you have to make a mad dash for the last bus home, you may want to consider a carpool or vanpool instead. Set up a FREE online profile in EZRide and see if you have matches. Ask around at work, too–everyone is trying to hang on to their hard-earned cash and some of your co-workers might welcome a rider who’ll chip in for gas. If transit normally fits your schedule well and you simply get held up one night and miss the last bus, that’s an appropriate time to use your voucher.

Commuter Services of North Florida is just one of many partners working with StarMetro to host the 2011 Regional Mobility Summit. The summit is this Thursday, May 26 at the TCC Center for Workforce Development from 8:30am-4pm.

The goal of the summit is to identify ways to continuously improve transportation services through a coordinated plan for public and human services access to employment, health care and other activities of daily living for the citizens of the capital region.

Those participating in the summit will include partners throughout the region who will provide updates from the national, state and regional levels.

For more information contact, StarMetro at 850-891-5200.

The celebration of Earth Day continues! Friday, April 22 is Idle Free & Alternative Transportation Day. Meet us on Kleman Plaza 11am to 2pm for live entertainment and find out about easy ways you can start right now to reduce your carbon footprint. Come by our booth and say “Hi!”

Employees at the Capital Circle Office Center: Commuter Services of North Florida will be visiting CCOC for the Earth Day Celebration on Wednesday, April 20th. Be sure to look for us because we have free programs that are not only planet-friendly, they’re wallet-friendly, too!

And even if $4 a gallon doesn’t pinch for you, wouldn’t you rather spend that money on something fun this summer? Come check out all your transportation options and discover how to keep more of your money for you! Visit us at Earth Day or anytime at commuterservices.org.

Celebrate Earth Day with us! Those attending the Earth Day Jam on April 9th at the Bradfordville Blues Club are also invited to visit our website and use the free EZ-Ride search to locate neighbors and friends to carpool with.

It only takes a minute or two to fill out your profile and, when you get to the ‘destination’ part, instead of your employer, select Earth Day Jam. The system will then email you a list of names and how to get in contact with each other. All home information is kept private, so you can decide if you’d prefer to meet up with several friends at a central location and pool from there. It’s up to you who to call—if anyone—to see if your plans for the day are a good fit.

Note: Leave the default times as they are so you have the best chance of finding someone; you’ll have more options if you wait until you chat to make specific plans.

This ridesharing effort is being offered by Commuter Services of North Florida, sponsored by the Florida Department of Transportation. Look for us at the Earth Day Jam and find out more about easy and money-saving ways to reduce your carbon footprint everyday! If you have any questions, feel free to call Pat Maurer at 1-888-454-7433.

Here’s a friendly heads-up: several intersections in Tallahassee are now equipped with photo enforcement to catch red light runners. These cameras will attempt to curb a serious problem. Most years, speeding and red light running cause more fatalities than homicide in Leon County. And recently, in a 16 hour period at a single intersection, the cameras caught over 400 violations.

The good news is, law enforcement is happy to tell you exactly where the cameras are, precisely what the rules are, and how much it will cost you if you choose to break them. Visit this page on talgov.com for all the necessary information.

Read up and drive safely. And save that money for something fun!

Catch the Kickoff of the new “Sustainability & You” Series!

The Environmental Policy and Energy Resources Department will launch the Spring sessions of the “Sustainability and You” community learning series—FREE, engaging and interactive workshops designed to help citizens learn about sustainability practices and principles. The series is sponsored by the City of Tallahassee, Florida State University and Sustainable Tallahassee.

The workshops were created in part through the efforts of the Environmental Advisory Board (EAB), a group of citizens appointed by the City to develop sustainability practices and policies for City government as well as the community at large. The EAB and the Environmental Policy & Energy Resources Department (EPER) both envisioned active community participation in the development of sustainability plans for the City organization and the overall community. The workshops will allow local citizens to learn about sustainability issues and then apply that knowledge to help finalize the Tallahassee Sustainability Action Agenda, the City’s overall sustainability plan.

The “Sustainability and You” community learning series kicks off with the panel discussion: Connecting People and Places: Transportation and Sustainability on Wednesday, February 16, 2011 at 5:30 p.m. at the Frenchtown Renaissance Center.

If you need additional information, please contact Venus Childs at 891-8719 or Tony Murray at 891-8704.

Sustainability and You Community Learning Series Spr 2011