Afield test of a project that provides alternative modes of transportation for employees who leave their cars at home launched in the vicinity of the Pleasant Hill BART station this summer.
More than 30 people have signed up to use the Segway electric HTs and electric and conventional bicycles to get to and from the BART station as well as to run errands or go to lunch.
Published: September, 2006
Afield test of a project that provides alternative modes of transportation for employees who leave their cars at home launched in the vicinity of the Pleasant Hill BART station this summer.
Commuters who take public transit or share rides to work can access bicycles, electric bicycles and Segway® Human Transporters (HTs) for use to and from the office. The units are also available during the day for off-site meetings and errands.
The ultimate goal of the project is to save precious fuel, reduce emissions and congestion, and lessen the demand for limited parking in the area.
Dubbed EasyConnect, the project is coordinated by California Partners for Advanced Transit and Highways (PATH), a collaboration between the University of California, Berkeley’s Institute of Transportation Studies and the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans).
EasyConnect is designed not only to help people use transit to get to work, but it also alleviates the problem known as transit isolationism, said Susan Shaheen, program leader for policy and behavioral research at PATH and the researcher who designed the project. Some people find it difficult to take transit to work because if they do, they have no way of getting around during the day.
Shaheen said the Pleasant Hill BART station was chosen as the base for the project because of its proximity to Contra Costa Centre, a well-planned transit-oriented, multiuse community. The Centre is also the future site of a transit village that is currently under construction and that is designed to facilitate occupants’ use of public transit.
Some of two-wheelers are stored at the Pleasant Hill BART station in electronic lockers and picked up by employees of nearby participating businesses to get to work. During the day, the devices are kept at the businesses for shared use by multiple employees. Other units are based at the BART station, at Contra Costa Centre, have their units based in their buildings.
So far, some 10 companies and more than 30 employees have signed up to participate during the initial recruitment phase of the project. The PATH team is actively recruiting additional employers and employees to participate in the EasyConnect project. Businesses pay $150 per unit per month, which allows their employees to use the Segway HTs and bikes for free, after taking a short training course.
Segway, Inc. has loaned the program 10 of its unique self-balancing, electric HTs, and Giant Bicycle, Inc. has loaned 10 bicycles: five electric and five standard models.
We need to look at using different methods of getting more people out of their single-occupancy cars, so that we use our limited resources more efficiently, said Contra Costa County Supervisor and Metropolitan Transportation Commission member Mark DeSaulnier. The innovative concepts being introduced at this transit village will continue to be replicated not only across the nation, but around the world, he added.
If it proves successful after a two-year test period, EasyConnect will be expanded to other areas of California, Shaheen said. The plan is to eventually combine the project at the Pleasant Hill BART station/Contra Costa Transit Village with other successful transportation technologies such as an online smart system for reserving the vehicles and parking, real-time freeway and transit information signage, carsharing, and hydrogen fuel cells to power small electric vehicles and Segway HTs.
Caltrans is supporting the EasyConnect program with $369,000 in grants. Another $131,000 in grants has been provided by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, Bay Area Quality Management District, Contra Costa Centre Transit Village, Contra Costa County, 511 Contra Costa, Segway, Inc. and Giant Bicycles. Other project partners include BART and Millennium Partners.
For more information: www.easyconnect.com
