EMPLOYER OUTREACH: THE COLD VISIT APPROACH

South Florida Services (Commuter Services) is a Florida Department of Transportation's (FDOT) Regional Assistance Program charged with improving traffic conditions by reducing South Florida's dependency on the Single Occupant Vehicle (SOV). Services is dedicated to providing carpool/vanpool meetings, regional call center, regional Emergency Ride Home program and employer programs. This paper will present an approach that is just a segment of Services' overall program. Services' helps companies implement TDM initiatives on site to address transportation issues. To attract more businesses, a new method of has been adopted. This allows one-on-one interaction and the ability to explain the program as opposed to sending out a letter which usually gets lost in the mounds of paperwork. On average, when ten companies are called, one or two companies are interested, whereas with visits five to six companies become active participants which indicates a major increase. These companies ultimately get cars off the road by holding Commuter Services Days, implementing preferential parking, including TDM articles in their newsletter and promoting the Emergency Ride Home (ERH) program. Overall, cold visiting has added to the success of the Services program.