News for Transportation
Coordinators and Employees in the Maricopa
County
Trip Reduction Program
The last HPA Day was January
9, 2004 for
PM-10
--NEWS FOR
EMPLOYEES BELOW--
OZONE SEASON KICKS OFF
TODAY
You
Can Win Great Prizes All Summer
No
Foolin'!! The Summer Ozone Season begins today, April
1. That could be bad news for the air, but good news for you if you
carpool, vanpool, ride the bus, telecommute, walk or bike to
work. Use any one of those alternative modes to get to work and you can
enter the Summer Ozone Contest (April 1-September 30)
and win some great prizes this summer, including the Grand Prize--round-trip
tickets on American Airlines to JFK Airport in New
York City!
If you use an alternative mode on HPA days, you
will get a double entry for that day. Drawings will be held monthly.
There are two other ways to enter the Summer Ozone
Contest--Refuel After Dark or use Electric Lawn & Garden
equipment. For details or to enter the contest, go the Valley
Metro website.
Ozone
is more of a problem in the summertime due to the extreme heat and sunlight that
"cooks" emissions from industry, utilities, vehicle exhaust, gas fumes, and
chemical solvents into the harmful ground-level pollutant known az OZONE.
Children, elderly and individuals with respiratory problems are at risk, but
even healthy people can feel the affects of high ozone levels when they are
outside exercising.
We can
all do "something" to help reduce ozone.
RIDESHARE POLL
GOES ON LINE
Valley Metro wants to know
what YOU think about RideSharing and Transit-related topics. Beginning this week
on the RideShare home page at: www.ValleyMetro.org and in Blue Notes, you
will have a chance to participate in the "Click Poll."
Click is the inquisitive little mouse who promotes online info--Click Here--Go
There!
When you select the
"Click Poll" icon on the Rideshare home page, you can answer
a question EACH
WEEK and see the results of how
others have voted. We hope you'll participate every WEEK and
give us your opinion on a variety of transit-related topics and
questions.
BIKE INFO AT WAL-MART
Info Tables at 4 Wal-Mart & Sam's
Club
Looking for bike paths in your neighborhood, or a want a copy of this
year's Valley Bike Week poster with Arizona
Diamondbacks' player Matt Kata? Head to one of the following
Wal-Marts or Sam's Club THIS SATURDAY and check out the Valley Metro Bike
Education Table. Valley Metro staff will be on hand at each store from
1:00pm-4:00pm. There will also be a free drawing at each store for special
Diamondbacks memorabilia like autographed jerseys and
baseballs.
-
Wal-Mart #2515, 3721 E. Thomas,
Phoenix, 602-685-0555
-
Wal-Mart #2767, 4505 E. McKellips Rd,
Mesa,
480-641-6728
-
Wal-Mart #3241, 18551 No. 83rd Ave,
Glendale,
623-825-1129
-
Sam's Club #4830, 1459 No.
Dysart
Rd., Avondale, 623-882-3859
TRANSIT
UPDATE--
Valley Metro's New Bus Wrap Unveiled!
Valley Metro's "Design a Bus Wrap
Contest" winning entry will be unveiled at
McClintock High
School in
Tempe on Friday, April 30 at
11:45 a.m. The newly wrapped bus will be at
the event, and awards will be presented to student finalists. The ceremony will
be attended by students, administrators, transit officials, sponsors and the
local media. Look for the new bus wrap design in May on a street near
you!
Valley Metro's 2004 Bus
Roadeo
Join Valley Metro's finest operators at
8:30 a.m. on April 18 at the
Glendale Municipal Airport as they duke it out in a contest of
wits and skill. Only one person will walk away from this supreme test-only one
operator will take home the prize. It'll be one knockdown, drag-out fight... and
it's all for Valley Metro Bragging Rights.
TRANSIT CHANGES EFFECTIVE APRIL 5
Red Line, Route
30
Detour due to a sewer improvement project
between Stapley
Drive and
Gilbert
Road. University Drive will narrow to
one lane in each direction, and bus stops will be closed during this time. The
bus pullout at the northwest corner of University and Gilbert will also be
unavailable. This detour will be in effect for approximately 90 days.
Route 104
Service on Alma
School Road to Fiesta Mall will resume in both northbound and southbound directions. Passengers can
access the bus in front of the mall entrance on the second level near Sears.
Schedule time points will remain the same.
Union Pacific Railroad Construction
Detours
Affects Routes: 45 * 65 * 77 * 92 * 108
Due to construction at the Union
Pacific Railroad grade crossings on Broadway, Baseline, Kyrene and Elliot Roads
in Tempe, these streets will be closed to
all traffic from 4 a.m. Saturday until 5
a.m. Monday
on the following dates:
*
April 3-5 - On Broadway
Rd. between
Mill
Ave. and
Hardy
Dr.
*
April 17-19 - On Baseline
Rd. between
Mill
Ave. and
Kyrene
Rd.
* May
15-17 - On Elliot Rd. between Rural Rd. and Hardy Dr., and on Kyrene Rd. between
Grove Pkwy. and Carver
Dr.
Due to the
length of the detours, buses traveling through and beyond the affected street
closures will experience delays. For more information about this detour, log on
to www.ValleyMetro.org or call transit
information at (602) 253-5000.
--SEND INFO ABOVE TO EMPLOYEES...
DELETE TC INFO BELOW
FOR TC'S ONLY
BELOW--
OZONE MATERIAL
ON-LINE
Summer isn't officially here yet, but the Summer Ozone
Season is!! To help you get your employees motivated to do their part to
reduce ozone, Valley Metro has produced a number of materials--including
posters, fact sheets, coupons, etc. You can download all of these helpful
materials just by clicking on the Valley Metro RideShare website.
Ozone
Forecast Starts Monday
Remember, beginning Monday, April 5, Valley Metro will send the
Weekly Ozone Outlook to all TC's signed up on our
e-mail or fax list. The forecast will give you an idea if an Ozone HPA is likely
sometime during the week.
NEW POLL DEBUTS ON
RIDESHARE HOME PAGE
As you may have read in the Employee Section
above, our on-line "Click Poll" will debut soon. The Click Poll icon will appear
on the RideShare home page and give us an opportunity to "take then pulse" of
individuals and TC's involved in the Trip Reduction Program and get their
opinions on a variety of transit and Rideshare -related
topics and questions.
We're also interested in coming up
with a list of "poll questions" or topics. The questions can be in a "yes" or
"no" format, such as, "Did you carpool today?" or you may select from range of
responses, such as: "Did you:
- Carpool
- Vanpool
- Ride the
Bus
- Ride Your
Bike
- Telecommute
- Walk
Please
send your suggestions for "Click Poll" questions to Randi
Alcott, RideShare
Manager.
TAKE A GROUP TO BIKE TO
BOB
There's nothing quite like a day at the ballpark to
reward your employees or just to have a good time. Bike To
BOB is our annual family bike ride from Margaret T. Hance Park to
Bank One Ballpark to watch a Diamondback's game. This year's event is
Sunday, April 25. For $12 person, you can enjoy the pre-ride
fun at Hance Park beginning at 9:30am--free T-shirt, breakfast, face painting,
giveaways, entertainment, and reserved seat ticket--then at 11:30am, it's time
to hop on the bikes and pedal 3.3 miles to BOB via Encanto Blvd. and Central
Ave. You can register as an individual or Group. The cost is the same, but Group
registrations receive a ticket voucher and all the seats will be together. For
more info, check the Valley
Metro website.
NEED TRP TRAINING CLASSES?
April/May
Training
"Intro To TRP"
Thursday, April 15, 2004
8:30am-12:00pm
Downtown Tempe (You will receive a
map to the training site.)
Thursday, May 13,
2004
8:30am-12:00pm
Valley Metro Offices-1st Ave/Van
Buren, Downtown Phoenix (You will receive a map to the training
site.)
"Plan
Writing"
Thursday, April 15, 2004
1:30pm-4:00pm
Downtown
Tempe (You will receive a map to the training
site.)
Thursday, May 13,
2004
1:30am-4:00pm
Valley Metro Offices-1st Ave/Van
Buren, Downtown Phoenix (You will receive a map to the training
site.)
"101 TRP
IDEAS"
Tuesday, April 13, 2004 (**NOTE DATE CHANGE FROM APRIL
6)
1:30pm-4:30pm
Valley Metro
Offices-1st Ave/Van Buren, Downtown Phoenix (You will receive a map to
the training site.)
"Lots of ideas for events and promotions to
motivate employees and get the TRP message
across."
"Marketing
TRP"
Wednesday, May 5,
2004
1:30pm-4:30pm
Valley Metro
Offices-1st Ave/Van Buren, Downtown Phoenix (You will receive a map to
the training site.)
"Strategies for getting employees to say "YES!" to
sharing the ride!"
RESERVE your place in a "Free" TRP
Training Class today!
TCA's
IN APRIL
TCA's (Transportation Coordinator
Association) are informal groups of local TC's,
who meet once in month in their area to network, share ideas, hear special
speakers and stay in loop on Transit issues and plans. For the TCA in your area,
contact Valley Metro Rideshare at 602.262.7433 (RIDE), e-mail
Rideshareinfo@valleymetro.org or get more
information on our website.
Papago Area TCA
Wednesday, April 7,
2004
8:30am
TOPIC: HPA program
NE Valley
TCA
Thursday, April 8,
2004
8:30am
TOPIC: "Organizing your TRP program"
Sky
Harbor/Phoenix Industrial TCA
Friday, April 9,
2004
8:30am
Central Corridor TCA
Tuesday, April 20,
2004
8:30am
TOPIC: "The ABC's of HPAs and Transit Plan Update"
Chandler-Gilbert-Ahwatukee-S. Tempe TCA
Wednesday, April 28,
2004
8:30am
TOPIC: "The ABC's of
HPAs and Transit Plan Update"
LINKS
602.262.RIDE
(7433)
602.262.RIDE
(7433)
602.253.5000
602.506.6400
Blue Notes is
produced by Valley Metro RideShare for the Maricopa County Trip Reduction
Program.