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CTR ordinance for Redmond
A list of mandatory elements and information distribution requirements for commute trip reduction programs in Redmond.
Requirements for employers
An affected employer is required to make a good faith effort to develop and implement a CTR program that will encourage its employees to reduce Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) per employee and drive alone commute trips. The CTR program must include the mandatory elements as outlined below:
Employee Transportation Coordinator (ETC)
The employer shall designate an ETC to administer the CTR program. The ETC and/or designee's name, location, and telephone number must be prominently displayed physically or electronically at each affected worksite. The ETC shall oversee all elements of the employer's CTR program and act as liaison between the employer and the City of Redmond.
An affected employer with multiple sites may have one transportation coordinator for all sites. A transportation coordinator does not need to be an employee of the affected employer.
Information distribution
Information about alternatives to drive alone commuting shall be provided to employees at least once a year. This shall consist of, at a minimum, a summary of the employer’s program, including ETC name and phone number. Employers must also provide a summary of their program to all new employees at the time of hire. Employers shall also provide for continuous information distribution through a transportation information center to be maintained in each worksite building used by fifty (50) or more affected employees.
Each employer’s program description and annual report must describe what information is to be distributed by the employer and the method of distribution. The summary of the employer’s CTR Program shall also be submitted to the City with the employer's program description and regular report annually.
Additional program elements
In addition to the specific program elements described above, the employer’s CTR Program shall include additional elements as needed to meet CTR goals. Elements may include, but are not limited to, one or more of the following:
- Provision of preferential parking for high-occupancy vehicles which is signed, monitored, and enforced;
- Reduced parking charges for high-occupancy vehicles;
- Instituting or increasing parking charges for drive alone commuters;
- Provision of commuter ride matching services to facilitate employee ridesharing for commute trips;
- Provision of subsidies for rail, transit, or vanpool fares and/or transit passes;
- Provision of subsidies for carpools, walking, bicycling, teleworking, or compressed schedules;
- Provision of incentives for employees that do not drive alone to work;
- Permitting the use of the employer's vehicles for carpooling or vanpooling;
- Permitting flexible work schedules to facilitate employees' use of transit, carpools, or vanpools;
- Cooperation with transportation providers to provide additional regular or express service to the worksite;
- Construction of special loading and unloading facilities for transit, carpool, and vanpool users;
- Provision of bicycle parking facilities, lockers, changing areas, and showers for employees who bicycle or walk to work;
- Provision of a program of parking incentives such as a rebate for employees who do not use the parking facilities;
- Establishment of a program to permit employees to work part or full-time at home or at an alternative worksite closer to their homes which reduces commute trips;
- Establishment of a program of alternative work schedules, such as a compressed work week, which reduces commute trips;
- Establishment of a program of telecommuting which permits affected employees to work at home or at an alternative worksite closer to their home
- Implementation of other measures designed to facilitate the use of high-occupancy vehicles, such as on-site day care facilities, emergency taxi services, or guaranteed ride home programs;
- Charging employees for parking, and/or the elimination of free parking; and
- Other measures that the employer believes will reduce the number and length of commute trips made to the site.
- Participation in a Transportation Management Association (TMA).
- Participation in a city sponsored Commute Program.
Good faith effort
(RCW 70.94.534) Employers are considered to be making a good faith effort if the following conditions have been met:
- The employer implemented the mandatory elements above and
- The employer has notified the jurisdiction of its intent to substantially change or modify its program and has either received the approval of the jurisdiction to do so or has acknowledged that its program may not be approved without additional modifications;
- The employer has provided adequate information and documentation of implementation when requested by the City of Redmond; and
- The employer is working collaboratively with the City of Redmond to continue its existing program or is developing and implementing program modifications likely to result in improvements to the program over an agreed upon length of time.
Violations
The following constitute violations if the deadlines established in this ordinance are not met:
- Failure to self identify as an affected employer within the timeframes indicated in RMC 5.65.060;
- Failure to perform a baseline measurement, including:
- Employers notified or that have identified themselves to the city within ninety (90) days of the ordinance being adopted and that do not perform a baseline measurement consistent with the requirements specified by the city within ninety (90) days from the notification or self-identification;
- Employers not identified or self-identified within ninety (90) days of the ordinance being adopted and that do not perform a baseline measurement consistent with the requirements specified by the city within ninety (90) days from the adoption of the ordinance;
- Failure to develop, submit, and/or submit on time a complete CTR program within the deadlines of this ordinance;
- Failure to implement an approved CTR program, unless the program elements that are carried out can be shown through quantifiable evidence to meet or exceed VMT and drive alone goals as specified in ordinance;
- Submission of false or fraudulent data in response to survey requirements;
- Failure to make a good faith effort, as defined in RCW 70.94.534; or
- Failure to revise a CTR program as defined in RCW 70.94.534(4).
Penalties
Each city business day during which an employer fails to 1) implement a commute trip reduction program, or 2) modify a commute trip reduction program that does not meet the goals shall constitute a separate violation of this ordinance. No affected employer with an approved CTR program may be held liable for failure to reach the applicable SOV or VMT goals.
This ordinance shall be enforced by the Code Compliance Officer as provided in RMC 1.14, provided that:
- No affected employer with an approved CTR program which has made a good faith effort may be held liable for failure to reach the applicable drive alone or VMT goal;
- Each day of failure to implement the program shall constitute a separate violation, subject to penalties as described in RCW 7.80.
- An affected employer shall not be liable for civil penalties if failure to implement an element of a CTR program was the result of an inability to reach agreement with a certified collective bargaining agent under applicable laws where the issue was raised by the employer and pursued in good faith. Unionized employers shall be presumed to act in good faith compliance if they:
- Propose to a recognized union any provision of the employer's CTR program that is subject to bargaining as defined by the National Labor Relations Act; and
- Advise the union of the existence of the statute and the mandates of the CTR program approved by the city and advise the union that the proposal being made is necessary for compliance with state law RCW 70.94.531.
- In any hearing on the matter the Code Compliance Hearing Examiner shall consider as evidence:
- Documented contacts between the city and the employer;
- Documented program activities undertaken by the employer, and
- Any other evidence submitted by the city or the employer which can demonstrate compliance with this Chapter and the CTR law RCW 70.94.521 through 70.94.551, or lack thereof, and
- The maximum civil penalty that may be imposed by the Code Compliance Hearing Examiner for each separate violation shall be $250 per day per violation.
- Failure to obey any order of the Code Compliance Hearing Examiner, and failure to comply with any administrative decisions or sanction imposed under this ordinance shall constitute a class 1 civil infraction pursuant to RCW 7.80.120 and shall be punishable by a maximum civil penalty of $250 per day per violation. In addition to the institution of any such civil infraction proceedings, the city may authorize the city attorney to collect the fees by appropriate legal action against the employer.
- An employer shall not be deemed to be in violation of this ordinance if failure to implement an element of a CTR program was the result of an inability to reach agreement with a certified collective bargaining agent under applicable laws where the issue was raised by the employer and pursued in good faith. Unionized employers shall be presumed to act in good faith compliance if they: (1) propose to a recognized union any provision of the employer’s CTR program that is subject to bargaining as defined by the National Labor Relations Act; and (2) advise the union of the existence of the statute and the mandates of the CTR program approved by the city of Redmond and advise the union that the proposal being made is necessary for compliance with state law RCW 70.94.531.