New program pushes commuters to try new options

Residents and workers in downtown Bellevue can add a little green to their pocketbooks – and to their commutes – with the launch of a new online incentive program.

July 5, 2012 2:32 pm

Residents and workers in downtown Bellevue can add a little green to their pocketbooks – and to their commutes – with the launch of a new online incentive program.

Starting July 5, the program, called Downtown Bellevue On the Move, will offer rewards and travel assistance to downtown residents and workers who try a commute mode other than driving alone.

Bellevue’s long-range goal is to increase the use of alternative commutes downtown to 40 percent of all commute trips in order to meet regional transportation and environmental goals. Currently, 35 percent of downtown trips are by modes other than solo driving.

Incentives for riding the bus, carpooling, vanpooling, biking or walking to work, include:

• A $50 Get Started gift card: Eligible participants who live or work in Bellevue can earn a $50 gift card after 25 days (round trips) of logging a commute by bus, carpool, vanpool, bike or walking to work – anything but driving alone.

• Monthly drawings for a $50 gift card: Continue to log your commute trips and you’ll be entered into a monthly drawing for two $50 gift cards. All you have to do is log 12 days (round trips) of using a green commute mode.

• How to sign up: Interested commuters can sign up online and receive information about other promotional incentives through King County Metro and Wheel Options. The website also includes travel resources such as vanpool and carpool partner matching, a transit trip planner and commute cost calculator.

For assistance, commuters can contact a program representative at 425-990-3098 or DBOnTheMove@cywb.org. The program also has a Facebook page, and a Twitter page.

The Downtown Bellevue On the Move program, sponsored by the City of Bellevue, King County Metro and TransManage, replaces a pilot project called Downtown Bellevue Commute Club. Participants in that project will be automatically transferred to the new program.

More information about transportation modes such as taking the bus, carpooling, walking and biking is available at www.ChooseYourWayBellevue.org, the city’s travel options website.