Montana State govt. employees push green commuting

Patrick Sanders figures he saves about $200 per month sharing a ride to Helena from Butte. John Helzer likes the quick 12-minute bike ride to his office. Cheryl Richman says she can’t keep the state’s gas-electric hybrid cars in the motor pool.

All are examples of state employees trying another way.

By Jason Mohr – IR Staff Writer

http://helenair.com/articles/2004/03/29/montana_top/a01032904_02.txt

Spawned a decade ago by a group of concerned employees, Try Another Way State Employees (TAWSE) encourages those working for Helena’s biggest employer to bike, walk, carpool or use public transit or "telecommute" to work.

"If you can get people to just try it one or two days a week…you’re reducing your workday travel by 40 percent," says Patrick Foster, a Department of Health and Human Services informations systems supervisor. He regularly bikes to work, mounting studded mountain bike tires for better traction on the ice, if necessary.

"People think it’s not going to make a difference," he says. "Well, it does make a difference."

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He says it appears some are giving it a try.

"What I can tell you is that there’s a lot more bikes in the bike racks than when I started," Foster said. "Now at least people have heard of us (TAWSE)."

Judging from a survey the group conducted, carpooling has the most potential for success, Foster says.

TAWSE tries help out by coordinating rides and riders. He estimates that one-third of the 50 state employees from Butte share a ride.

Sanders, a Department of Transportation planner, says he wore out one car in three years making the commute. Now he shares the drive with three others.

Each driver gets assigned to drive a week per month. The group meets in the Safeway parking lot in Butte, and passes the time during the drive by reading newspapers and making small talk.

"It’s nice because you’re waking up to go to work," Sanders says of the one-hour trip. "We all get along."

Although limited in Helena, Foster says, public transit is another possibility.

He’s enthusiastic about the Downtown Business Improvement District’s trolley, which runs a regular half-hour schedule to and from the Capitol complex.

Although it doesn’t run early enough for the morning commute, using the trolley to get to lunch on Last Chance Gulch can reduce traffic and even save an employee’s parking spot back at the office, he says.

The state motor pool features six hybrid cars, which cost more than regular passenger cars to purchase but average up to 48 miles per gallon and spew significantly fewer pollutants. Employees like the cars and they’re don’t often go unused.

"They’re getting used all the time," said Richman, Department of Transportation equipment bureau fiscal officer. "They’re not really sitting idle."

The Honda and Toyota vehicles are only available to state workers in Helena. They make up a small part of the motor pool’s fleet of 160 passenger cars here.

TAWSE also promotes the idea of "teleworking," or working on a computer from one’s home.

Foster, a department supervisor, said one fellow employee he thought had an office down the street actually works out of her home near Billings.

Foster figures he gets 15 percent more production out of his teleworkers. A detailed contract sets productivity levels. Workers like the arrangement and don’t abuse the agreement, he said.

"I just had them e-mail when they start work and e-mail me when they stop work," he said. "Even when people are sitting at their desk, they may not be productive."

As long as he’s up by 7 a.m. and the weather’s agreeable, Department of Administration employee John Helzer rides his trusty mountain bike to work.

"I don’t mind the wind and the rain, (but) it’s the lightning," he says. "I try to ride every day."

Exhaust from cars is another obstacle, but Helzer says he enjoys his ride.

"It does get my heart rate up, but not for long because it’s only 12 minutes," he says. "I go the same route every day so I notice if things change."

Reporter Jason Mohr can be reached at 447-4075 or [email protected].