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Best Portland employers for low-car commuters

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Creative Commons photo of downtown Portland by Radcliffe Dacanay

The best Portland employers for low-car commuters offer free TriMet passes, avoid subsidizing drivers with free auto parking and offer on-site storage and support for bike commuters. The best downtown Portland employers were recognized in the April 2011 Employer Issue of Portland Afoot's monthly magazine and are mapped and ranked below.

Two downtown employers tied for first place, with a perfect score: The local office of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Energy Trust of Oregon.

This project was launched in April 2011 with design, research and mapping assistance by Alexis Grant, a Portland-based active transportation advocate.

Contents

[edit] Map of downtown's best employers for low-car commuters

Click a dot for more information. Data are also on the ranked list below. See also Portland employers that subsidize TriMet passes, which has a list of employers around the entire region.

Green dots represent employers with more than 150 points; yellow dots, employers with fewer.

If several worksites share the same address, only one is mapped.

[edit] Ranking of 113 downtown employers

Every employer on the following list was listed by TriMet in March 2011 as having recently provided a free TriMet pass to all employees who want one, either through the TriMet universal pass program, TriMet select pass program or the TriMet direct monthly pass program.

To narrow the field, we looked only at work sites in ZIP code 97204 (south-central downtown, below Burnside) or the inlying parts of 97205 and 97201 (the west and south sides of downtown).

For an explanation of the scores in each category and how we gathered the information, see our methodology below. The list may not include every downtown employer that fully subsidizes passes. If you know of an employer that should or shouldn't be listed, please let us know in the comments below!

To sort the list by a column, click the arrows at the top of that column.

CompanySiteName rank TriMet pass auto parking bike parking shower on-the-job errands Bike Commute Challenge total score
Energy Trust of Oregon 1 100 50 15 10 10 15 200
US Environmental Protection Agency 1 100 50 15 10 10 15 200
Bonneville Environmental Foundation 3 100 50 15 10 5 15 195
Ecos Consulting 3 100 50 15 10 5 15 195
Elemental Technologies, Inc. 3 100 50 15 10 10 10 195
Integral Consulting 3 100 50 15 10 5 15 195
SERA Architects Inc. 3 100 50 15 10 5 15 195
US Geological Survey - Oregon Water Science Center 3 100 50 15 10 5 15 195
Multnomah County 9 100 50 15 10 5 10 190
SRG Partnership, Inc. 9 100 50 15 10 5 10 190
Stoel Rives LLP 9 100 50 15 10 5 10 190
Pop Art 12 100 50 15 10 10 0 185
US Army Corps of Engineers Portland District RDP 12 100 50 15 10 10 0 185
USDA Regional Office of Environmental Policy and Compliance 12 100 50 15 10 10 0 185
Beth Allen Law PC 15 100 50 15 10 5 0 180
Internal Revenue Service 15 100 50 15 10 5 0 180
Oregon Forest Resources Institute 15 100 50 15 10 5 0 180
PacifiCorp 15 100 50 15 10 5 0 180
SOLARC Architecture & Engineering Inc. 15 100 50 15 10 5 0 180
Sustainable Northwest 15 100 50 15 0 5 10 180
USDA Forest Service 15 100 50 15 0 5 10 180
Banks Law Office 22 100 50 15 0 10 0 175
Buchanan Angeli Altschul & Sullivan LLP 22 100 50 15 10 0 0 175
CB Richard Ellis 22 100 50 15 0 10 0 175
David Paul, PC 22 100 50 15 10 0 0 175
Extensis Corporation 22 100 50 15 10 0 0 175
GeoSyntec Consultants 22 100 50 15 10 0 0 175
Marten Law 22 100 50 15 10 0 0 175
Multnomah Bar Association 22 100 50 15 10 0 0 175
Oregon Board of Dentistry 22 100 50 15 10 0 0 175
USDI Office of the Secretary Appraisal Services Directorate 22 100 50 15 0 10 0 175
Zipcar 22 100 50 15 0 10 0 175
Bureau of Land Management Human Resources 33 100 50 15 0 5 0 170
Cascadia Behavioral Healthcare 33 100 50 0 0 5 15 170
Coalition of Community Health Clinics 33 100 50 15 0 5 0 170
David F. Sugerman Attorney, PC 33 100 50 0 10 10 0 170
Pacific Interpreters 33 100 50 0 0 10 10 170
PAE Consulting Engineers Inc 33 100 25 15 10 5 15 170
Allergy Clinic 39 100 50 15 0 0 0 165
David Evans & Associates Inc 39 100 25 15 10 5 10 165
enXco Development Corporation 39 100 50 0 10 5 0 165
Edward W Sager CPA PC 42 100 25 15 10 10 0 160
National College of Natural Medicine 42 100 25 15 10 0 10 160
PreCash Inc 42 100 25 15 10 10 0 160
Tripwire, Inc. 42 100 25 15 10 0 10 160
USDA NASS 42 100 25 15 10 10 0 160
USDI Regional Solicitor's Office 42 100 25 15 10 10 0 160
Landau Associates 48 100 25 15 10 5 0 155
Regence Group 48 100 25 15 10 5 0 155
Altermatt Associates Inc 50 100 50 0 0 0 0 150
Avatron Software 50 100 25 15 0 10 0 150
CareOregon 50 100 25 15 10 0 0 150
ODOT/DMV West Portland Field Office 50 100 50 0 0 0 0 150
Portland Business Alliance 50 100 25 15 10 0 0 150
Sulzer Pumps 50 100 25 15 10 0 0 150
UTi Worldwide Inc 50 100 25 15 10 0 0 150
Worksystems, Incorporated 50 100 25 15 10 0 0 150
ICF International 58 100 25 0 10 10 0 145
Mayer/Reed 59 100 0 15 10 0 15 140
OakTree Digital 59 100 0 15 10 5 10 140
SAIF Corporation 59 100 25 0 10 5 0 140
Vestas Americas 59 100 0 15 10 5 10 140
Whipple & Duyck, P.C. 59 100 25 15 0 0 0 140
Wayne Godare, Chapter 13 Trustee 59 100 25 15 0 0 0 140
ADP Dealer Services - Downtown 65 100 0 15 10 0 10 135
Angelo Planning Group, Inc. 65 100 0 15 0 5 15 135
Education Northwest 65 100 0 15 10 0 10 135
Marger Johnson & McCollom 65 100 25 0 10 0 0 135
Tichenor, Dziuba & Coletti LLP 65 100 0 15 10 10 0 135
Merchants Exchange of Portland 69 100 0 15 10 5 0 130
MulvannyG2 Architecture 69 100 0 15 10 5 0 130
Stewart Title Company - Portland Division 69 100 0 15 10 5 0 130
EBMS 72 100 0 15 10 0 0 125
Galois, Inc. 72 100 0 0 10 0 15 125
GBJ Architecture 72 100 0 15 10 0 0 125
Harland Financial Solutions 72 100 0 15 10 0 0 125
Lemelson Foundation 72 100 0 15 10 0 0 125
Portland Community College 72 100 0 15 10 0 0 125
Ride Connection 72 100 0 0 10 5 10 125
Sparling 72 100 25 0 0 0 0 125
Harsch Investment Properties 80 100 0 15 0 5 0 120
Bank of the Cascades 81 100 0 15 0 0 0 115
Melvin Mark Companies 81 100 0 0 10 5 0 115
Portfolio Financial Servicing Company 81 100 0 15 0 0 0 115
Stahancyk, Kent & Hook PC 81 100 0 0 10 5 0 115
Stimson Lumber Company 81 100 0 15 0 0 0 115
Keelson Partners, Inc. 86 100 0 0 0 10 0 110
NW Staffing Resources - Downtown 86 100 0 0 10 0 0 110
Walsh Construction Co 86 100 0 0 10 0 0 110
Clean Copy 91 100 0 0 0 5 0 105
Oregonians Credit Union 91 100 0 0 0 5 0 105
Elliott Powell Baden & Baker, Inc. 93 100 0 0 0 0 0 100
Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc 93 100 0 0 0 0 0 100
Surgical Specialty Group 93 100 0 0 0 0 0 100
AT&T 93 100 0 0 0 0 0 100
Babcock & Jenkins, Inc. 93 100 0 0 0 0 0 100
Chartis Insurance 93 100 0 0 0 0 0 100
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 93 100 0 0 0 0 0 100
Fidelity National Title of Oregon 93 100 0 0 0 0 0 100
FIOS 93 100 0 0 0 0 0 100
Income Property Management 93 100 0 0 0 0 0 100
Intercall 93 100 0 0 0 0 0 100
Manpower Inc. 93 100 0 0 0 0 0 100
Moss Adams LLP 93 100 0 0 0 0 0 100
Paulson Investment Company Inc 93 100 0 0 0 0 0 100
Pollinate Media 93 100 0 0 0 0 0 100
Preston Bunnell & Flynn LLP 93 100 0 0 0 0 0 100
Seattle Northwest Securities Corp 93 100 0 0 0 0 0 100
US Court of Appeals - 9th Circuit 93 100 0 0 0 0 0 100
USDA Agricultural Marketing Services 93 100 0 0 0 0 0 100
USDA Office of General Counsel 93 100 0 0 0 0 0 100
VA Regional Office 93 100 0 0 0 0 0 100

[edit] How we ranked them

Initial subsidy data came from TriMet, which released the list to Portland Afoot under Oregon's open records act. 2010 Bike Commute Challenge results were provided by the Bicycle Transportation Alliance. During the week of March 14, 2011, we gathered the remaining data by calling all 111 employers downtown and south of Burnside that had been listed by TriMet as having offered full subsidies.

Companies that did not respond to our requests received full points for offering free TriMet passes, but no points for categories with no information.

[edit] Free TriMet passes: 100 points

We started by restricting our search only to downtown Portland employers that offered free annual TriMet passes. In combination, national survey data show these are the single most important factor (other than offering telecommuting) in shaping Americans' decisions of whether to drive a car alone to work.

For offering a free TriMet pass to any downtown employee that wants one, a company earned 100 points.

[edit]

Because auto parking uses valuable real estate, companies that offer free auto parking to employees are offering auto commuters a benefit unavailable to non-auto commuters. We reward companies for not subsidizing auto drivers with free or cheap parking.

A company received 50 points if it either:

  • charged its own employees the market price for parking
  • let auto commuters find their own parking spaces, unaided, or
  • offered a parking cashout program, which gives extra cash to employees who walk or bike to work. This way, people aren't penalized for choosing the cheapest commute: the human-powered one.

Of the 112 companies we contacted, only five downtown companies reported offering cashouts:

A company received 25 points if it either:

  • charged its own employees for parking, but below market price, or
  • offered free parking to one group of people (executives, for example) but did not offer it to other workers.

[edit] Secure bike parking: 15 points

A company received 15 points if its main downtown work site offered bike parking that was either restricted to public access or within eyeshot of a parking attendant. This was desirable not just for security reasons but to keep bicycles dry and in good maintenance on rainy days.

[edit] Showers: 10 points

A company received 10 points if its building offered on-site showers.

[edit] On-the-job errands: up to 10 points

Many companies reward car ownership and car commuting by paying the inflated IRS rate -- 51 cents per mile in 2011 -- for on-the-job errands. Because this is about three times the marginal cost of driving a mile, it gives employees an incentive to drive their own cars as much as possible, and to keep them on hand.

A company received 10 points if it, instead, offered workers a shared car or company car for on-the-job errands. The company received 5 points if it offered both the shared car and the standard mileage reimbursement.

Several companies said all their on-the-job errands can be done on foot or public transit. They received the full 10 points.

[edit] Bike Commute Challenge participation: up to 15 points

This is more an indicator of an employer's culture than a benefit. The Bike Commute Challenge is a friendly contest each September, organized by the Bicycle Transportation Alliance, to see which businesses can get the most employees to bike to work that month. Participants receive prizes, training and other rewards for giving their bikes a try.

A company received 10 points for participating in the 2010 challenge, or 15 points for seeing at least 25 percent participation among its workers.

[edit] Two employers that might do better

While reviewing the data, researcher Alexis Grant found two downtown employers that she and editor Michael Andersen thought should, given their culture and mission, be scoring higher:

  • The City of Portland, which offers only $38 toward its employees' monthly TriMet passes despite paying to maintain the roads on which its employees drive to work.
  • Portland State University, which according to Transportation Options Manager Ian Stude subsidizes only 56% of its employees' monthly TriMet passes (in addition to pre-tax savings) despite being a leading center of scholarship on public transportation.

Representatives for both employers posted responses to this criticism in the comments below.

[edit] See also

Did you find this page useful? Could it get better? You're meeting Portland Afoot in its toddlerhood! You can help build this free online guide to low-car life in PDX by clicking "edit" in the right sidebar and adding what you know. Or just leave your questions or ideas below. Thanks for visiting!

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