How the ATL Airport Slashed Commute Times, Costs With Their Award-Winning Carpool Program​

How the ATL Airport Slashed Commute Times, Costs With Their Award-Winning Carpool Program

Case Study

As the world’s busiest airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (HJAIA) employs over 63,000 people. To support them, UrbanTrans currently manages AERO, a transportation management program dedicated to helping these employees get to and from work every day.

Atlanta, Georgia
Ongoing Project
April 2019 – Present

Upon collecting data on employee commuting behaviors, UrbanTrans uncovered a challenge: employees who earn lower wages pay more out of pocket for commuting and parking than employees who earn higher incomes.

Because of home locations and late night or early morning shift times, these employees often lack access to transit and depend on driving to get to work. To extend a more cost-effective and convenient option to these employees—and reduce airport congestion in the process—AERO partnered with the Parking Operations department to develop the AERO Insiders Carpool Parking Pilot Program.

AERO reserved 30 carpool exclusive spots within the International Hourly Parking Deck and coordinated a discounted parking rate of $15 per day (compared to a $36 daily rate). This parking deck is conveniently located adjacent to the terminal, which provides easier access to the security line and to job sites in all concourses.

 

Thanks to this program, participating employees reduced their commute time by up to 30 minutes while paying less for parking.

The success of this program was realized through a crucial partnership with the ATL Parking Operations department. Though the airport relies on parking revenue, AERO was able to provide a valuable service to employees while still benefiting ATL’s bottom line in the long run. As this program expands, both organizations will realize additional benefits.

This program was recognized nationally by the Association of Commuter Transportation with the Commute Options – Carpool Award in 2020.

During the program's pilot demonstration period (April 2021 to December 2021), the service successfully
0
registered riders and has completed 12,000+ total rides to LAX and back.
0 M
(and counting) fewer drive alone commute miles annually
0 +
discounted transit passes sold per month

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UrbanTrans has made a powerful impact on our district, building strong relationships with our largest employers and serving as a trusted advisor to the thousands of companies that call Perimeter home. Through our partnership, we have made Perimeter a better place to do business for the hundreds of thousands of employees who work here.
Ann HanlonPerimeter Community Improvement Districts

Designing an Equitable, Sustainable Transportation Option for Airport Employees

Designing an Equitable, Sustainable Transportation Option for Airport Employees

Case Study

Over 3,000 Inglewood, CA residents work at the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). Few options existed for getting to work, though, and many Inglewood residents had to resign themselves to driving to off-airport paid parking facilities.

Iride Inglewood (Inglewood, CA)
Ongoing Project
April 2021 – Present

To support these commuters, UrbanTrans partnered with the City of Inglewood to design, develop, and deliver an innovative service that addresses complex issues surrounding equity, workforce development, and essential workers. Our team used primary market research, geospatial analysis, service design, technology needs assessments, and comprehensive marketing services to help the city launch a successful, dynamic microtransit service during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The micro-transit service, Iride Inglewood, offers a safe, reliable, and on-demand ride to work in dedicated vans. As a bonus, it helps Inglewood accumulate data-rich metrics on commute travel to inform local, regional, and statewide goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and vehicle miles traveled. Most importantly, though, it has immediately and dramatically improved the commute experience and riders’ quality of life while reducing costs for a historically underserved TDM target audience.

Since the service’s launch in April 2021, UrbanTrans has used innovative marketing tactics to gain riders during the extremely complicated COVID-19 pandemic. To start, we helped riders feel safe using the service by implementing improvements to the vehicle experience, such as “no-touch” automatic door openers, onboard policies based on CDC guidance, vehicle ventilation enhancements, and other pandemic-related efforts.

Additionally, to make the service more user-friendly, we developed an automated process for critical steps in Iride’s service delivery—from downloading the Iride mobile app and authenticating a new account to booking the first few trips. 

To build demand for the service among 3,000 potential riders, UrbanTrans designed a marketing plan tailored to the target audience’s demographics, workforce attributes, and values. The subsequent marketing paired high-visibility tactics like large-scale billboard and transit advertising and mailers in the Inglewood residential neighborhoods with more targeted promotional avenues, including airport employer outreach, SMS marketing, and paid social media advertisements. The outreach also included bilingual promotional assets, customer service, and messaging.

These efforts have netted positive results:
0 +
registered riders
1 %
reduction in average commute times from Inglewood to LAX (from 64 minutes to 18 minutes)
0 K+
rides completed to LAX and back, with a high success rate for on-time arrivals

During the program’s pilot demonstration period (April 2021 to December 2021), the service successfully decreased average commute times from 64 minutes to 18 minutes, delivered on-time performance over 98% of the time, and achieved an average of 4.8 stars out of 5 stars in passenger satisfaction.

The pilot’s success has led the city of Inglewood and Los Angeles World Airport (LAWA) to agree to adopt the program for the long- term.

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UrbanTrans has made a powerful impact on our district, building strong relationships with our largest employers and serving as a trusted advisor to the thousands of companies that call Perimeter home. Through our partnership, we have made Perimeter a better place to do business for the hundreds of thousands of employees who work here.
Ann HanlonPerimeter Community Improvement Districts

Readying Toronto for the Great Welcome Back

Following a topsy-turvy 2020 that caused much of Toronto—and the world—to work remotely, Toronto employers had to plan how they would reintroduce in-person workplace activities. To ease commuting concerns, UrbanTrans partnered with the City of Toronto’s Smart Commute Toronto program to develop a campaign and resources to help Toronto-based employers and residents prepare to return to the workplace.

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South Orange County Multimodal Study

South Orange County
Multi-modal Study

Orange County, CA

New approaches to transportation are coming to South Orange County, CA, and UrbanTrans is part of the team developing them.

UrbanTrans is helping create a multimodal transportation plan for South Orange County, conducting a study that examines a range of options. It will lead to adopting a new, locally-preferred strategy to set the stage for future transportation project development in South Orange County.

UrbanTrans’ focus is on providing TDM recommendations. To accomplish this, we conducted a geospatial analysis of various factors that impact the need, desire, and effectiveness of TDM. The analysis was used to identify TDM strategies applicable to the study area.

We then created several scenarios that allocated dollars to a collection of complementary TDM strategies and estimated how much each collection could reduce vehicle travel miles in the short and long-term ensuring that TDM was included in all the plan’s transportation alternatives. 

UrbanTrans’ staff is now supporting the refinement of the TDM strategies and evaluating the impacts of the remaining preferred alternatives.

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Rogina Jabel

Rogina Jabel

Program Specialist

Rogina is passionate about mobilizing people towards making a social impact and building long-term community resilience. As a Program Specialist, she helps implement TDM programs spanning the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA) that support sustainable urban mobility and promote initiatives that make the daily commute more accessible, safer, and greener. 

Rogina has dedicated her career to program delivery, community outreach, and stakeholder engagement. She currently leads these efforts for three Transportation Management Associations in Toronto. Rogina previously worked with non-profit organizations across the GTHA to deliver large-scale behavior change programs that mitigate climate change, protect biodiversity, and improve air quality. 

Rogina collaborates effectively with municipal governments, neighborhood associations, and environmental groups to achieve program goals. Within these roles, she has championed addressing equity in climate action by engaging those disproportionately affected by climate change like low-income groups, BIPOC communities, and seniors. 

Rogina earned her degree in Environmental Management with Double Minors in Geography and Political Science from the University of Toronto. She was selected by the University to conduct a comprehensive Zero Waste Feasibility Assessment for the Mississauga Campus.

In her free time, you can find Rogina canoeing or camping in one of many provincial parks in Ontario — even in the winter!

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Erica Hine

Erica Hine

Senior Program Specialist

Erica is here to work toward lessening our dependence on personal vehicles. She believes that by sharing and connecting—especially when connecting via active transportation methods—we have significant opportunities to live happier and healthier lives.

In her role as a Senior Program Specialist, Erica supports program activities in Denver, including nurturing employer relationships and managing regional campaigns. She is currently developing outreach programs for West Corridor Transportation Management Association (TMA) and Transportation Solutions TMA.

 

A bike advocate at heart, Erica brings five years of experience as Bicycle Colorado’s membership manager, where she supported statewide bike education and advocacy initiatives. She comes to this field of work through a passion for public health, and she has a Masters of Public Health degree from the University of Texas Health Science Center. Erica believes that through UrbanTrans’ projects, communities can work toward becoming healthier and more just.  

 

When not engaging with Denver’s TMAs, Erica enjoys herself best when walking and biking with friends, having a solo dance party, seeing live music (especially with her brother), or camping and hiking in the Rockies.

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Chris Cannon, IAP2

Chris Cannon, IAP2

Principal Consultant - Community Engagement

Chris Cannon is a principal consultant at UrbanTrans and has 15 years of community involvement and engagement experience. His background is broad and includes programming and projects in community and economic development from planning to project implementation. Since joining UrbanTrans in 2021, Chris has taken the lead on community engagement for variety of projects including: stakeholder group development for various levels of project management and implementation, comprehensive stakeholder and public involvement plan development and implementation for multiple transportation studies, and strategic planning and facilitation services for both government and NGOs. Prior to joining UrbanTrans, Chris worked across all levels of government, most recently as the Director of Economic Development for the City of Johns Creek, Georgia. He spent many years building coalitions and partnerships to facilitate the economic restructuring of Southwest Virginia. And prior to that, he worked across both rural and urban areas of the State of Georgia facilitating economic and community improvement programs through the Georgia Department of Economic Development.

Cannon is a graduate of Shorter College in Rome, Georgia, with a degree in Media Studies and Art. Outside of work, you’ll find him hiking the backcountry trails across the South or working on clay projects in the pottery studio.

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Nikki Washington

Nikki Washington

Senior Program Specialist

Nikki is enthusiastic about informing Atlanta residents about their transportation options and improving the quality of life in cities through sustainable practices. At Urban Trans, Nikki is on the programing team for the Perimeter and Atlantic Station TMAs. Nikki is excited about the potential of these programs to make our communities better places to live and grow. 

 

Before taking on a program specialist role at UrbanTrans, Nikki worked at a planning firm and served several cities throughout the Atlanta Metro Area. Her experience planning with a range of different Atlanta communities brings a unique perspective to the role and contributes to her ability to connect with various stakeholders. 

 

Nikki graduated from the University of Georgia with a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Health Science and loved Athens so much that she stayed to get a master’s degree in Public Administration. 

 

Outside work, Nikki enjoys attending concerts with friends, watching any sporting event (Go Dawgs!), and exploring Atlanta with her partner and their pup. 

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