Chapter 10.68 EMPLOYER-BASED TRIP REDUCTION PROGRAM

As used in this chapter:
“Average vehicle ridership (AVR)” means the number of employees reporting to a work site during the peak period divided by the number of vehicles those employees use to arrive at the work site.
“Carpool” means a motor vehicle occupied by two to six employees of one or more employers traveling together between their residence and their work site for the majority of their commute trip.
“Commute trip” means the trip made by an employee from home to the work site.
“Employee” means any person who regularly works twenty (20) hours or more per week at a work site and normally travels during the peak period between six a.m. to ten a.m. or three p.m. to seven p.m. Monday through Friday and who normally works at least twenty-six (26) weeks per year. The term includes contract employees under the direction of the work site employer, including independent contractors. The term excludes field personnel, field construction workers, and volunteers.
“Employer” means any public, private, or nonprofit employer, including the city of Oakland, which has a permanent work site in the city of Oakland. “Employer” shall not include contractors with no permanent place of business in the city of Oakland and other businesses with no permanent workplace location.
“Field personnel” means an employee who spends twenty (20) percent or less of his or her work time at the work site and uses a personal or company-assigned vehicle to carry out their work tasks.
“Peak period” means six a.m. to ten a.m. or three p.m. to seven p.m. Monday through Friday.
“Transportation alternatives” means methods of travel by other than driving alone. Alternatives typically include carpools, vanpools, public transit, bicycles and walking.
“Trip reduction plan” means a method or approach for providing, supporting, subsidizing, and/or encouraging the use of commute transportation alternatives, including but not limited to:
1. Providing information about transit, ridesharing, and nonmotorized commuting;
2. Matching and placement services for carpools and vanpools;
3. Provision of carpool and vanpool vehicles;
4. Carpool and vanpool operating subsidies;
5. Carpool and vanpool preferential parking location and/or reduced parking fees;
6. Charging fees for employee parking;
7. Provision of and/or placement services for subscription buses;
8. Provision of shuttle services;
9. Transit fare subsidies;
10. On-site waiting and loading facilities for transit;
11. Travel allowances for bicyclists and pedestrians;
12. On-site paths, parking, and showers and lockers for bicyclists/pedestrians;
13. Guaranteed ride home and guaranteed transportation in emergencies for users of commute alternatives;
14. On-site child care and other service/convenience facilities which lessen the need for a personal vehicle at the place of employment;
15. Telecommuting and teleconferencing.
“Vanpool” means a vehicle occupied by seven or more employees who commute together to work.
“Work site” means any property, real or personal, which is being operated or maintained by an employer as part of an identifiable enterprise. Property on contiguous, adjacent, or proximate sites separated only by a private or public roadway or other private or public right-of-way, served by a common circulation or access system, and not separated by an impassable barrier to bicycle or pedestrian travel such as a freeway or flood control channel are included as part of the work site. (Prior traffic code § 402)

The requirements of this chapter apply to employers with one hundred (100) or more employees at a single work site. All employers shall do the following within the specified time periods following notification from the city that they are subject to the requirements of this chapter:
A. Transportation Manager. Within thirty days following notice from the city Public Works Director or his or her designee as to employer requirements under this chapter, appoint a Transportation Manager. Notice shall be by U.S. Mail and shall be effective as of the date deposited in the mail. An employer having more than one work site within Oakland may appoint one manager for all work sites or individual managers for one or more of the work sites. The Transportation Manager shall be responsible for carrying out the employer requirements under this chapter. The Transportation Manager shall also have authority for the employer’s trip reduction information program budget.
B. Employee Transportation Coordinator (ETC)/Commute Coordinator. Within thirty (30) days following notice from the city Public Works Director or his or her designee as to employer requirements under this chapter, appoint an Employee Transportation Coordinator (ETC)--also known as a Commute Coordinator. Notice shall be by U.S. Mail and shall be effective as of the date deposited in the mail. The Coordinator shall bear the day-to-day responsibility for implementing this chapter’s employer requirements. Within ninety (90) days following appointment, unless the Coordinator has had one year of experience as an ETC/Commute Coordinator, the Coordinator shall complete a training course approved by the city which meets the minimum standards established by the Alameda County Congestion Management Agency. A designated Transportation Manager may also function as a Coordinator, provided that the Manager meets the qualifications set forth in this section.
C. Trip Reduction Plan. Within sixty (60) days of meeting the Coordinator’s training requirements, and no less frequently than once per year thereafter, submit to the city Director of Public Works or his or her designee a plan for encouraging the employees to use transportation alternatives when commuting to Oakland. The employer must implement the plan within sixty (60) days of submittal.
As a minimum, the plan must include an information program designed to encourage the use of transportation alternatives. The information program must include annual distribution to every employee of up-to-date marketing and information materials about commute alternatives and their impact on congestion and air pollution. Employers must distribute or post information provided by or through the city. All newly hired employees must receive information about transportation alternatives including carpools within two weeks of employment.
D. Employee Survey. The employer shall periodically administer surveys as required by the city to ascertain and monitor employee commute patterns. The survey form will be provided by the city and will not be required more than once each year. The employee survey shall be used to identify current employee use of commute modes, calculate average vehicle ridership (AVR), and serve as a data base for the future design, implementation and monitoring of employer trip reduction programs.
E. Proof of Implementation. One year following implementation of the plan, or at some other time required by the city, but not more often than once each year, provide a copy of all materials given to employees in the previous year and a description and schedule of contracts with employees. The employer shall also provide a brief written description of the following:
1. The number of off-street parking spaces provided by the employer;
2. The fees, if any, charged to employees for parking employee carpools, vanpools, and single-occupant vehicles. (Prior traffic code § 403)

The city shall provide the following technical guidance and support for employers undertaking this program:
A. Provide or cause the provision of marketing materials and information about transportation alternatives and how these alternatives can mitigate traffic congestion and air pollution;
B. Provide a list of approved training courses for Commute Coordinators;
C. Analyze data or cause data to be analyzed from employer surveys. Prepare a report on the results of employer surveys. Transmit report to employers, Congestion Management Agency, local transit operators, and local and regional rideshare agencies;
D. If deemed necessary, conduct periodic meetings, or cause meetings to be conducted for employer Transportation Managers and Coordinators;
E. Coordinate with other jurisdictions and with the region in developing and implementing transportation management and trip reduction programs and disseminating information about these programs to employers in the city.
The city’s failure to take any or all of these actions shall not relieve an employer of its responsibility under this chapter or create any liability on the part of the city. (Prior traffic code § 405)

A. Enforcement.
1. Any employer who violates or refuses to comply with the provisions of this chapter within sixty (60) days of written notice to comply may be guilty of an infraction as set forth in Section 1.28.020B of this municipal code.
2. Each day such violation continues shall constitute a separate offense.
3. Any employer convicted of an infraction under the provision of this chapter shall be punished upon a first conviction of a fine of not more than one hundred dollars ($100.00) and, for a second within a period of one year, by a fine of not more than two hundred dollars ($200.00) and for a third or any subsequent conviction within a one-year period, by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars ($500.00). Any violation beyond the third conviction within a one-year period may be charged by the City Attorney or the District Attorney as a misdemeanor and the penalty for conviction of the same shall be punishable by a fine of not more that one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) or by imprisonment in the county jail for a period of not more than six months or by both.
4. The Director of Public Works or his or her designee shall enforce this chapter against violations by any of the following actions:
a. Receiving and investigating complaints related to the violation of this chapter;
b. Serving notice requiring the correction of any violation of this chapter;
c. Calling upon the City Attorney to maintain an action for injunction to enforce the provisions of this chapter and to cause the correction of any such violation through all appropriate equitable and legal means;
d. Issuing an infraction citation;
e. Any other available equitable and legal means.
B. Appeals. Employers may appeal decisions or determinations of the Director of Public Works or his or her designee made under this chapter as follows:
1. Appeals to the City Manager. Within ten calendar days after the date of a decision by the Director of Public Works or his or her designee, an appeal from said decision may be taken to the City Manager by the employer. In the event the last date of appeal falls on a weekend or holiday when city offices are closed, the next date such offices are open for business shall be the last date of appeal. Such appeal shall be made on a form prescribed by the Director of Public Works and shall be filed with the City Manager. The appeal shall state specifically wherein its is claimed there was error or abuse of discretion or wherein its decision is not supported by the evidence in the record. Upon receipt of such appeal, the City Manager shall set the date for consideration thereof and shall, not less than ten days prior thereto, give written notice to the appellant, or to the attorney of such party, of the date and place of the hearing on the appeal.
2. Appeals to the City Council. Within ten calendar days after the date of a decision by the City Manager’s Office, an appeal from said decision may be taken to the City Council by the employer. In the event the last date of appeal falls on a weekend or holiday when city offices are closed, the next date such offices are open for business shall be the last date of appeal. Such appeal shall be made on a form prescribed by the Director of Public Works and shall be filed with the City Clerk. The appeal shall state specifically wherein it is claimed there was an error or abuse of discretion or wherein its decision is not supported by the evidence in the record. Upon receipt of such appeal, the Council shall set the date for consideration thereof. The City Clerk shall notify the Director of Public Works of the receipt of said appeal and of the date set for consideration thereof; and the Director of Public Works shall, not less than ten days prior thereto, give written notice to the appellant, or to the attorney of such party, of the date and place of the hearing on the appeal.
3. Appeals are limited to the following:
a. That the employer is not subject to regulation;
b. That the employer can most effectively accomplish the purpose of this chapter without complying with its requirements;
c. That the Director of Public Works or his or her designee has incorrectly denied an extension of time; or
d. That compliance would violate the employer’s existing labor contracts.
4. Appeals to the City Manager and/or City Council shall be assessed a fee, as established in the master fee schedule.
5. Penalties under Section 1.28.020B of this municipal code do not accrue until thirty (30) days following the determination of the appeal. (Prior traffic code § 406)