Bellevue College’s Deric Gruen was recognized by the governor this week for his work on smart commuting.
Gruen, the school’s sustainability coordinator, commissioned a parking study and established a transportation management task force of students and employees, according to the Washington State Department of Transportation.
He led outreach efforts for RideshareOnline.com at the school and developed a program to use parking fees to offset the rising cost of the school’s transit pass program for students and employees. Participation in the program soon increased by 30 percent.
(Read more about Gruen's latest work at Bellevue College here.)
Gruen was one of 22 recipients of the 2012 Governor’s Commute Smart Awards honored at a ceremony Monday in Olympia.
WSDOT explains the awards this way:
Each year the Governor’s Commute Smart Awards recognize communities, businesses, agencies and workplace transportation coordinators for their creative efforts to promote ridesharing and other alternatives to driving alone, such as bicycling and teleworking. Their work improves traffic flow, strengthens the economy by empowering more than 570,000 commuters across the state to drive 160 million fewer vehicle miles annually, saving 8 million gallons of fuel. It also cuts greenhouse gas emissions by more than 71,500 metric tons. That's the weight of eight Space Needles.
More details and the full list of winners are posted on WSDOT's Public Transportation page.
