City Puts Brakes on Traffic Habit

The rapidly growing city of Pleasanton, nestled in a sunny valley at the crossroads of two major California freeways, is using a unique approach to potentially immense traffic problems.

It is unusual “because it’s citywide and because it provides for employers to design their own programs rather than having them imposed,” said Gail Gilpin, the city transportation coordinator.

Pleasanton, which 20 years ago had a population of 3,000, now numbers 44,000 residents and is rated the third fastest-growing city in California. It lies at the juncture of U.S. Interstates 580, which runs east and west, and 680, a north-south freeway, in the Livermore Valley about 30 miles west of San Francisco.

“We’re doing something before we have a problem,” Gilpin said, noting that the huge traffic jams plaguing Silicon Valley, the high-technology area 20 miles to the southwest, have taught developers and employers a grim lesson.

Anticipating Growth

White-collar industry is expanding in the once sleepy bedroom community, with the advent of such companies as AT&T;, Kaiser Aluminum, Clorox, Hewlett-Packard, Farmers Insurance, Spreckels Sugar and General Electric.

The work force, now 20,000, is expected to reach 55,000 by the year 2010, Gilpin said in an interview.

The heart of the Pleasanton approach is a 1984 ordinance designed to reduce the number of automobiles on the roads during commuting periods by 45% in graduated steps over four years.

The law is unusual because it gives employers the responsibility of devising incentives to reduce the traffic.

“Most business people like to be in control of their own ships,” Gilpin said, “and this ordinance is tailored for that.”

If the companies drag their feet, a transportation task force, comprised of city officials and representatives from major employers, can impose a mandatory program. Sluggish companies can also be fined up to $250 per offense or taken to court on misdemeanor charges.

“All but two of the 34 companies covered met the first-year goal of a 15% reduction,” Gilpin said, “and seven exceeded the goal.” The two companies that failed were given warnings and since have come up to snuff.

Annual City Survey

Employers must respond to an annual city transportation survey that asks about the mode of transportation their employees use, the distance commuted, the time of travel and other questions.

Employers of 10 to 49 people must inform their employees about alternate means of transportation. Employers of 50 or more people and complexes like business parks must design programs that will reduce traffic.

Most of the reduction in the first year was achieved by varying work hours and offering preferential parking for car pools.

Hacienda Business Park, a sprawling 850-acre office center where 6,000 people work now and 29,000 more are eventually expected, offers inducements ranging from bike racks for cyclists and showers for walkers and runners to free shuttle buses between the park and a Bay Area Rapid Transit District station 16 miles away.

The shuttle is also available for workers who want to do errands or have lunch in town, a mile away.

The park transportation office keeps a computerized file that helps match potential car poolers. The information is supplied by the transportation coordinators that every company in the park is required to have.

Inspirational Music

The office recently sponsored a lunch hour transportation fair that included a fashion show with walking and cycling clothes and a disc jockey who played recordings of “Take the A Train,” the “Route 66” theme, “Leaving on a Jet Plane” and other transportation-oriented music.

The fair heavily promoted the advantages of avoiding single-driver cars. “The idea was for people to learn about the alternatives in a fun way,” said Karen Fraser-Middleton, the park transportation manager.

The park effort has eliminated 700 cars a day from the streets, she said.

Gilpin, noting that the city government is one of the largest employers in Pleasanton, has been promoting walking and bicycling, with such incentives as permission to wear casual attire to work on Wednesdays, cash prizes and a free weekend for two at a bed and breakfast inn for employees who do something other than drive to work three days a week.