Commuting Efforts Shine with Pair of
Rideshare Diamond Awards
LOS ANGELES, Calif. (5/25/05) -- The Aerospace Corporation received its fourth Rideshare Diamond Award from the Los Angeles County Metro Transportation Authority for its rideshare efforts.
The award was recently presented at the seventh annual Rideshare Diamond Awards ceremony held at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles. The corporation’s group efforts to promote vanpooling and alternative forms of commuting were recognized at the event.
Established in 1970, the corporation’s vanpool program holds the distinction of being the longest running commuter vanpool program west of the Mississippi. Jean Ghianuly, senior employee transportation coordinator, Commuter Services, estimates that the program has covered more than 16 million miles in its 35-year run, a figure that translates to more than 30 round-trip missions to the moon.
The ceremony honored companies that develop and implement innovative programs to encourage employee participation in ridesharing.
This year, Aerospace was selected for recognition in the Group Achievement category for its work with Raytheon and Boeing pooling resources to establish and maintain the most successful vanpool network in the region. Ghianuly accepted the award on behalf of the corporation.
“When we transitioned from the Aerospace leased vanpool fleet to a third-party leased vanpool fleet in 1999 for our vanpool program, we were able to accommodate non-Aerospace and Air Force riders from the surrounding companies,” Ghianuly said of the partnership shared by the three companies.
Currently, Aerospace boasts 45 shared ride vanpools servicing areas including the San Fernando Valley, Ventura, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino Counties. Though costs to employees include a portion of the van lease as well as fueling charges, Aerospace supports the program by offering a $39 per month subsidy to participants. In May, 256 subsidies were distributed to vanpool commuters, while 35 employees requested the $15 public transit subsidy.
