TI's commuting plan reduces carbon footprint

TI's Villeneuve Loubet facility sits atop a rugged hillside above a centuries-old village in the French Maritime Alps. The picturesque area is known for its olive trees, umbrella pines and giant cactus plants, and also for the renowned expertise of TI in the wireless space.

The view is beautiful, says TI Wireless Product Verification Lead Corentin Morilhat, but getting to work without a car poses a challenge.

"It's quite isolated," said Morilhat, who also coordinates the company commuting plan. "You reach our office by a tiny road, up a very steep hill with lots of traffic."

Faced with the cost of expanding the parking lot, in 2004 TI began to explore alternative transportation options. There was much room for improvement: no buses braved the kilometer-long hill up to TI's facility, and the narrow winding road discouraged pedestrians and bicyclists. As a result, nearly all of TI France's 1,200 workers traveled to work in cars, driving solo.

While that may not sound like much, with an average round-trip commute distance of 18.4 kilometers (or 11.4 miles), every two days these 1,200 TIers were logging enough kilometers to travel around the earth.

The company was motivated by the parking structure's expense and concern about the environment. In addition, it wanted to reap a return on taxes paid for public transportation.

"It can sometimes be stressful to drive," Morilhat said. "Employees wanted more choices."

The resulting program, a grassroots effort that started from scratch and has grown over the course of six years, expanded commuting options on every level: bike, car and bus. It has enabled the company to reduce the environmental impact of driving by reducing congestion on roads, moderating greenhouse gas emissions and increasing the use of less energy-intensive modes of travel.

Although some 14 percent of TI employees in France now use alternative transportation, offsetting 115 tons of carbon dioxide in 2007 alone, work is still underway to improve the program using lessons learned early in the program's development.

To get the program started, TI first surveyed employees to get a better understanding of their transportation habits and expectations. Then we analyzed the feasibility of various modes of alternative transportation.

Public transportation appeared the most promising. So TI France managing director Christian Tordo worked with local governments to secure two bus shuttles from the nearest train station to TI. The company also decided to pay for half of the cost of up to two monthly bus passes for a commuting journey, making TI a community leader in alternative transportation planning.

It was important to provide high-quality, easily accessible commuting information to employees. So Morilhat put in place an internal company commuting plan Web site, complete with trip-planning functions, transportation schedules, pass ordering functions and an interactive map.

The result is that the number of workers commuting by bus and train nearly tripled from 24 to 70 in three years.

Next, the company turned to carpooling. By creating an internal Web site to facilitate ridesharing, the number of carpoolers jumped to 60. TI also supported efforts by local governments to encourage carpooling and has created a coalition of local businesses behind the idea. Finally, TI rewarded carpoolers by giving them shady, reserved parking spaces.

Last but not least, the facility took on biking. Recently, TI installed bike lockers, showers and changing rooms. With that, Morilhat hopes to increase the number of bike commuters from 30 to at least 60.

There's more work to be done. Morilhat envisions a "hop-a-ride" system for short commutes up the hill, free bike safety kits for cyclists, free motorized bikes that can be "borrowed" by TIers for lunchtime errands in the village, and the promotion of a unique public transport pass.

But he knows patience is required.

"We know that changing people's mode of transportation is a long-term project," Morilhat said. "But people are really happy to be able to leave their car at home. Maybe not every day, but they like to have the option."