How a Fortune 500 company reduced its carbon footprint by 33% with HQ Shuttles

Industry:

Glass, Ceramics and Concrete Manufacturing

Client Size:

61,000

Location:

New York

Company Background:

Our client is a global technology-based company that produces optical fiber, cable, and photonic components as well as manufactures glass panels, funnels, liquid crystal display glass, and projection video lens assemblies.  Their products are central to life sciences, mobile consumer electronics, optical communications, display, automotive and transportation industries.  The company has business operations in the Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa with headquarters in Upstate New York.

The Business Need:

Our client sought to make their Upstate New York headquarters more accessible to employees.  As their employees consist of scientists and technical specialists who are required to be physically present at the workplace, the daily commute is critical.

Currently, their Upstate New York location is underserved by public transportation with no direct train and only one three-hour bus route.  As a result, almost all employees travel by private car from the nearest city of Rochester which takes a minimum of two hours.

For these reasons, our client needed a solution that addressed the time-consuming daily commute, and the negative impact on employee wellbeing and the environment.

As a company committed to sustainability,  our client looked for an innovative transportation solution that would eliminate the need to use personal vehicles on-site, thereby reducing single occupancy vehicle travel and increasing traffic safety.

The Solution​​:

Our HQ Corporate Shuttle solution focused on improving mobility and accessibility to our client’s headquarters.  To achieve this, we strategically selected existing Park and Ride locations in the nearest city to our client’s headquarters as shuttle collection points.  These specific locations were based on employee addresses for an efficient route that shortened the first mile.

The pre-scheduled shuttle service provided a sustainable and convenient alternative to long-distance car commuting.  Instead, employees simply drove to their nearest Park and Ride with our passenger app providing live shuttle tracking, ETAs, and push delay notifications.

As our shuttle service rolled out during the pandemic, our client had full control over employee capacity per shuttle and seat spacing. As a result, each shuttle was limited to a maximum of 12 employees with seats allocated with sufficient spacing and distance between passengers.  Furthermore,  each shuttle adhered to strict sanitation schedules, and daily driver temperature checks to minimize risk.

The Results:

• From an environmental perspective, our sustainability reports show a 33% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

 

• The shuttle service prevented the use of approximately 4,300 private car rides between 1st January 2021 and June 2022.

 

• This carbon offsetting avoided 130,000 lbs of carbon emissions – the equivalent of planting 930 trees.  This was central to our client surpassing their sustainability goals, and drastically reducing their carbon footprint.

 

• The introduction of a regular and reliable shuttle service has made their headquarters more accessible and greener overnight.

 

• In terms of time-saving, and enhanced employee wellbeing, the results have been overwhelmingly positive.

 

• Following the launch, we added an additional Park and Ride collection point based on client feedback and employee demand.  As a custom-built solution, the route was expanded swiftly, and optimized to minimize the commute time.