Environmental responsibility
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Employee commuting programs
Mass transit | Vans and carpools | Shuttles | Cycling | On-site facilities and services | Work flexibility | Education
Throughout the world, employees' transportation needs vary depending on their work location, proximity to congested areas, distance to work from home and individual circumstances.
TI's headquarters and some manufacturing are located in Dallas, Texas, which sits within a region the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has designated a "nonattainment area" under the Clean Air Act (the region fails to meet the federal air quality standard for ozone air pollution).
As a result of this designation and because North Texas is where our single largest employee population resides, TI voluntarily and aggressively promotes reasonable alternatives to driving to work alone through its Commute Solutions program. It includes subsidized vanpools and mass transit, bicycle-friendly amenities, shuttle service between sites and flexible work options, among other benefits. The program is just one way TI is voluntarily doing its part to reduce congestion and contribute to better air quality.
A corporate Commute Solutions team leads this program in North Texas, manages global activities such as Bike to Work Day, and helps facilitate relevant site commute solutions as needed.
Some larger TI sites globally also have Commute Solutions coordinators, who engage and educate employees to increase participation in alternative transportation programs. TI France, for example, helped initiate a Company Commuting Plan Club with about 20 other nearby companies. Club members advocate for safe and expanded public transportation, cycling and carpooling programs with city administrators. They also encourage other local businesses to adopt alternative transportation programs. The club uses a common public transport pass system and shares a carpooling database as well.
Mass transit
TI began fully subsidizing mass transit passes for Dallas-area employees in 2005 to encourage their use of the Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) light rail train or bus, as well as the Trinity River Express bus and train system and the Denton A Train. The availability of subsidized passes and the opening of light rail stations near TI facilities increased Dallas employees' use of mass transit exponentially. Today, roughly 10 percent of our employee population in the Dallas area - more than 900 individuals - use mass transit to commute to work.
After DART increased fares in 2010, we asked employees to pay $50, a fraction of the annual fee. We continue to subsidize the rest. TI France also subsidizes half the costs of monthly public transportation passes.
Van and carpools
Vanpools provide a low-cost alternative for many North Texas employees to commute to work, as they split the cost of gas, tolls and excess mileage charges. DART and Enterprise Leasing manage the vanpool program and TI subsidizes the cost of vanpools with more than eight TI employees (including the driver).
Volunteer TI vanpool captains drive the vehicles and are responsible for maintenance and cleaning. Our vanpools are qualified to use high-occupancy vehicle lanes and receive premium parking spaces, thus getting employees to work faster and with less hassle.
Other employees carpool to work. They can find other interested carpoolers through our TI ridesharing match database and/or the North Texas Council of Governments' ride-sharing match service.
In the Philippines, Malaysia, China and Mexico, we provide buses and jeeps to ferry employees to and from work. As much as 80 percent of these employee populations are able to commute during the workweek using these services.
Shuttles
At TI campuses in Dallas and Plano, Texas, employees can take advantage of free on-call shuttles when they need to travel between buildings, or arrive or depart from nearby mass-transit stations.
Cycling
For employees who live in congested areas (such as Chengdu, China) or relatively near our facilities, bicycling to work is an inexpensive and easy way to commute. We began encouraging employees to bike to work about a decade ago, when we held our first Bike to Work Day for Dallas-area employees. That program has since expanded internationally.
With the increase in employee interest, sites are beginning to install bike racks and other facilities to accommodate cyclists. In France, for example, cyclists have their own changing room and lockers, and roads have improved there to make cycling safer. Employees also can reserve a locker or make suggestions for cycling programs online.
For TI's investments in support of cycling, the League of American Bicyclists designated the company as a "Bicycle-Friendly Business."
On-site facilities and services
Some transportation strategies have nothing to do with wheels. For example:
- To reduce lunch-hour trips, we offer on-site cafeterias, gyms and ATMs.
- We encourage teams to use WebEx or other video conferencing systems to reduce travel to meetings.
- Our on-site concierge service assists U.S. employees with reservations, event planning and many other needs. They even offer products for sale on the premises, such as tickets, gifts and discount cards, to cut down on employee errands.
- Our Chengdu, China, and Richardson, Texas, sites offer covered parking for bicycles. Covered parking for mopeds, scooters and motorcycles is available in Chengdu as well as our sites in Taipei, Taiwan, and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Some facilities, including our headquarters, have:
- On-site showers for workers who ride bicycles or walk to work.
- An electric vehicle recharging infrastructure.
- Preferential parking spaces for vanpools, carpools and low-emissions vehicles.
Work flexibility
Where possible, we provide flexible work options for employees to make commuting less stressful or to eliminate it altogether. We know that the best results can be achieved if all employees, as their position permits, can work at the times and locations that best promote creativity, quality, teamwork and productivity. We believe that "what" is produced is more important than "when" or "where" it is achieved.
Education
Employee engagement and education are integral to the success of our Commute Solutions programs globally. Our global Commute Solutions website offers resources to make employee commutes easier. It includes:
- A ride-sharing match database.
- Bus and shuttle schedules.
- Tips on how to reduce trips during the day.
- Information about flexible work options.
- Notices about cycling workshops and events.
Employees also can contact the Commute Solutions team to ask questions or share concerns or recommendations. Additionally, during high-ozone days, we post signs at facility entrances to encourage employees to be cognizant of the current air-quality conditions and to use alternative forms of transportation.
TI France also hosts a robust internal website that:
- Contains an eco-calculator to measure financial and emission costs associated with driving alone to work.
- Helps employees plan their commute and finds appropriate transportation solutions.
- Matches interested employees to carpools and enables access to reserved parking.
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