Climate Action and Resiliency

Summary of objective implementation status

To further promote the use of alternative forms of transportation, the County launched a Clean Commute program that included pre-tax commuter benefits and discounted Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) passes.  In May 2022, using funding awarded by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) to reduce the drive-alone rates for large employers in the Bay Area, the County launched its Online Trip Tracker. The Online TripTracker allowed employees to log their telework and alternate commute days, sign up for pre-tax commuter benefits, and find a carpool. For every telework day or alternate commute trip logged, the system automatically calculates the amount of money saved, calories burned, and CO2 emissions reduced. Since its inception, 1,803 County employees have logged 263,966 trips into the Online Trip Tracker and saved 1,517.3 metric tons of CO2.

This objective was identified as a near-term measure within the Climate Resilience Comprehensive Action Plan approved by the Board of Supervisors on September 10, 2024. Adoption of the Climate Resilience Comprehensive Action Plan included allocated funding to support the TripTracker contract for two additional years.

Key milestone update

The Clean Commute program continues to evaluate and evolve to meet the needs of employees and encourage them to decrease the number of single occupancy car trips to work.  Expansion includes:

• Establish a no-cost, reciprocal bus pass pilot program with City of Santa Rosa where City and County employees can ride free on both Sonoma County Transit and Santa Rosa CityBus by showing their ID badge. – COMPLETE

• Allow free electric vehicle (EV) charging for County employees for up to 3 hours per day at County-owned charging stations. – COMPLETE

• Allow free bike parking at bike lockers located on County campus. – COMPLETE
• Increase the Clean Commute Monthly Incentive from $40 to $100 per month per employee using the roughly $135,000 in available program funding. – COMPLETE
• Host a Bike to Wherever Day Energizer Station as part of National Bike Month, which encourages people to get out of the house, exercise, and get fresh air. – COMPLETE
• The Board of Supervisors adopted the Climate Resilience Comprehensive Action Plan on September 10, 2024, which identified this objective as a near-term measure and identified funding for continued implementation of the TripTracker. – IN PROCESS
• Introduction of an E-bike pilot program which will include County-hosted bike library where bikes can be checked out by employees. – IN PROCESS
• Design and implementation of County-sponsored events to encourage and promote clean commuting. – IN PROCESS

Coordination and partnership update

The partnership with the County of Sonoma and Santa Rosa’s CityBus to offer free transit fares for employees will be on-going. Additionally, the launch of all internal County employee-related programs requires significant coordination between various County departments, including the County Administrator’s Office, Human Resources, ACTTC, ISD, and Public Infrastructure. 

The E-bike Pilot Program will be designed and managed by Public Infrastructure and funded through a successful grant award by Sonoma Clean Power.

Community, equity and climate update

Staff is working to make the program as accessible as possible by including various modes of transportation into the subsidy program.  There will always be geographic equity issues with public transportation systems, but that is not within the scope of this objective.  The implementation of this objective will reduce employee commute greenhouse gas emissions.

Objective funding

The Clean Commute Program initially received Strategic Plan Funding in the amount of $135,000 to cover program costs through June 2024.  The funding was fully expended.  On September 10, 2024, the Board of Supervisors approved additional funding for this objective through the adoption of the Climate Resilience Comprehensive Action Plan. The identified funding sources to support this objective were the Climate Resilience Fund and the Tribal Mitigation Fund. This additional funding will cover the cost of the TripTracker for two more years.