The campus of Atlanta’s renowned The Lovett School is tucked away in a picturesque, mostly residential, northwest portion of the City of Atlanta along the banks of the Chattahoochee River between Paces Ferry Road and Northside Parkway/Highway 41.
While its 100 acres provide an idyllic setting for education, the unique location also presents significant transportation and commuting challenges for the school’s faculty and staff.
Lovett’s Unique Geography
Parking spaces are extremely limited across the Lovett campus. The nearest MARTA bus stop is a long walk away from the school, with a stretch of the walk being along Highway 41 that has no sidewalks. The long commute required for some from metro areas outside of the Atlanta city limits can even hamper teacher recruitment.
“Most of our teachers and employees do not live in this neighborhood and parking has always been an issue at Lovett. We are located on the Chattahoochee River and the river corridor, so even though we have many acres here, we simply cannot just build parking decks and new parking lots,” explained Mary Timberlake, Lovett’s Senior Human Resources Generalist.
Caption: Geographic areas where staff live and/or commute from
The parking problem was put on the back burner during Covid-19 pandemic-related shutdowns when the school pivoted to virtual learning. By 2021 they’d resumed on-campus life and learning, and Lovett’s long-standing parking and commuting headaches returned to school, too.
Lovett Partners with Georgia Commute Options
Georgia Commute Options (GCO) established a relationship with Lovett during the Covid-19 pandemic when they helped the school implement a remote work and virtual learning program. Ms. Timberlake also served as an employer panelist on the “Post-Pandemic Transportation Demand Management (TDM) Strategies, Challenges, and Opportunities” panel discussion during GCO’s 2022 TDM Summit.
Hearing of their need for commuting options and a desire to reduce their carbon footprint, GCO reached out to the school to offer a host of alternative transportation ideas and incentives tailored to pique the interest of Lovett’s staff.
Customized Solutions for Lovett’s Campus
GCO came to the Lovett campus loaded with unique marketing materials, gas and gift cards for contest winners. Giveaways and educational materials ranged from Uber vouchers, signage for reserved carpoolers and electric vehicles parking spaces, to info about biking as a commute option.
Especially useful for the Lovett faculty and staff was GCO’s app. The GCO app was positioned to help staff identify colleagues near their homes who also want to share a ride to work.
“What we did specifically with Lovett was collect all their employees’ contact information to feed the data back to ARC (Atlanta Regional Commission). Because ARC has the capability to do mapping, we gave them zip codes and were able to match the employees,” said Ariana Ward, GCO Worksite Advisor and Commuter Engagement Specialist.
Caption: Geographic areas where staff live and/or commute from
Currently, 83 Lovett employees have downloaded the GCO app to track trips for biking, telecommute and carpool matching with nearby coworkers. Groups of three or more carpoolers are designated “super teachers.” Thirty-two staff members are recording carpool trips between GCO’s website and app, where key levels of participation are incentivized with gift card prizes.
High gas prices have driven interest in carpooling in the past, and the school’s carpool numbers will likely see a spike when GCO showcases its alternative commuting options during the school’s annual Benefits Fair for faculty and staff in August.
“Anything we can do to make our employees’ lives easier, save money, attract and retain talent—that’s why I love this partnership with GCO. It’s another perk we can offer,” said Timberlake of the partnership with GCO.
“They were awesome. They do all the heavy lifting for us. It was turnkey for us. They’ve just been a great partner.”
Simplify Carpooling With the Georgia Commute App
It’s easier than ever to match with other individuals who are traveling to the same location and enjoy carpooling benefits like cheaper commute costs, cash prizes and rewards, and cleaner air for your community.
Georgia Commute Options assists businesses with creating carpooling options for their staff to have reliable, more cost-effective ways of getting to work.
These services are made available at no cost to metro Atlanta employers. GCO provides resources and consulting services that focus on removing barriers to arriving to work, design effective programs, and support policy implementation — all available at no cost to metro Atlanta employers.
Ready to give your employees a better way to get to work?
Let Georgia Commute Options help. Email us at info@gacommuteoptions.com