New initiative urges businesses to be energy smart, transit wise

State and local governments announced Tuesday morning a new initiative to encourage Utah employers and residents to telecommute, work flexible hours, ride public transportation, carpool, and walk or bike to save energy and reduce emissions along the Wasatch Front.

The initiative is called Travel Wise. Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker and Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon, the Utah Department of Transportation and the Utah Transit Authority announced the initiative, along with a new Web site, travelwise.utah.gov, where Utah employers and residents can find ideas on how to participate.

Participation is voluntary and neither businesses or residents will be provided tax incentives to begin Travel Wise programs.

"It's all about energy efficiency, which all by itself saves homes and businesses," Huntsman said at a news conference announcing Travel Wise. "So the best incentive, for example for the state, is to just do something different when we did the (four-day) workweek. And the incentive for us, as it would be for any business, is you save money by doing it, and you don't need much more of an incentive than that."

The concepts promoted in Travel Wise reflect the concept of "travel demand management," which is popular in urban areas such as Washington D.C., and began in earnest in Utah before the 2002 Winter Olympics when daily traffic, combined with tourist traffic, was feared to clog Utah roadways. UDOT requested companies allow flex hours and telecommuting to help reduce traffic by 20 percent. UDOT spokesman Ken Connaught said that the traffic reduction exceeded that goal.

Travel Wise is necessary now because "the state is experiencing unprecedented growth, which is likely to continue," the governor said. The state has a goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent by the year 2020, Huntsman said, and if people participate in Travel Wise, the goal will be easier to reach.

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E-mail: lhancock@desnews.com