Thread started by GarySe7en at 11.14.07 - 11:11 am

Scored a mini victory for bicycles at my workplace. I've been riding my bike to work for quite a while, and it came to my attention that parking spaces were a very valuable commodity in the part of Santa Monica I work in, and our cluster of buildings in particular. Currently Sony spends a lot of bank to give every employee a parking pass for the open lot (which is always jam packed valet style) or designated spaces. Once I really thought it about it seemed silly that I received a parking pass every month but never brought my car to work.

So I proposed to HR a program to give incentives to people who ride their bikes or use public transit, where a person could opt out of having a parking pass and in exchange receive a cut of the savings to the company. I was worried the idea got lost in the shuffle somewhere as I hadn't heard back about in a while, and then this week they announced the plan and made it official.

Starting next month several of us at work, my self included, will be receiving a little bump in our paycheck each month for having one less car at work. I think it's having a positive effect already, as I've overheard someone who rides sometimes, drives sometimes, he is going to do it, and go bike all the way. I've also over heard others who I've never seen bike to work, considering it now.

WoooOOOoooo!!! BIKE!! BIKE!! BIKE!! BIKE!! BIKE!! BIKE!!

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Congrats Gary.

What happens to those who need to drive to work occasionally and need a space? They've now lost their regular spot and i'm guessing they will need to pay for a spot on the days they have to drive. I'm wondering how many days of paying for their parking will offset the increase in their paycheck.

Just curious. I love the idea and concept.

steve



stevo4
11.14.07 - 12:00 pm

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The incentive could be over a $100 according to announcement per month (final number will be up to management), so should still come out much cheaper even if you do use car a few times a month. Also the program is on a month by month basis so if a person wanted to drive in the winter and bike the rest of the year, that is totally doable. Forgot to mention for car poolers, they can participate as well only they get the incentive split between them for how many spaces saved. Pretty much everything described in my original letter they enacted, it was cool to see they actually paid attention to this. I was worried with it being such a big corporation my request would get little priority. It had to get approved by SCEA headquarters in San Diego before it could passed.



GarySe7en
11.14.07 - 12:31 pm

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Dear Employees of SCEA Santa Monica:

With continually increasing traffic in the Santa Monica area, the 10 Freeway on/off-ramps and surrounding surface streets have become some of the most congested in Southern California. To discourage driving alone to work, Sony Computer Entertainment America is now offering Santa Monica employees who carpool, bike, walk or take transit to work a cash allowance in lieu of a parking space.

Under the lease agreements at 1630 Stewart Street and 2100 Colorado Ave, SCEA has been allotted a set number of parking spaces. To meet our parking demands, more spaces must be purchased each month from outside parking vendors. Employees who are willing to give up the parking space assigned to them will receive a monthly cash allowance equal to the average monthly cost of the each space above and beyond those required by our lease. Currently, the reimbursement will be paid in the amount of $148.62 and is subject to change based on the actual cost of each parking space charged to SCEA by the parking vendors.

To qualify, employees must forfeit the parking space/key card assigned to them and agree not to bring a car or motorized vehicle to their assigned lot on a month-by-month basis. In the case of a two-person carpool, the cash allowance will be split between the carpoolers and only one car a day will be allowed on the assigned lot. If an employee wants to drive to work occasionally, and a space is available, he or she must park as a visitor in the 1630 Stewart Street or 2100 Colorado Avenue lot and pay the hourly/daily rate. SCEA will not reimburse occasional parking. Partial arrangements other than carpooling will not be considered.

Employee requests must be made by the 15th of the month prior to the month in which the cash allowance is being requested. Similarly, a request for parking privilege reinstatement must be made in writing by the 15th of the month prior to the month in which the parking space is again needed. Assignment of spaces will be based on lot availability and not previously assigned space. Request forms for this program are available on the Intranet and must be signed by both the employee and their supervisor. Once fully completed, forms must be submitted to Doug Kelley, Office Manager, Santa Monica Studio. Forms will be submitted to the Human Resources Department for final approval and the Payroll Department for processing. Payouts will be made via employee paycheck in accordance with the SCEA Payroll processing schedule. Parking Cash Out reimbursements are considered taxable income and will be taxed at the current IRS withholding rate.

If and when SCEA no longer needs to purchase additional spaces beyond the number in the base lease, this cash allowance will no longer be offered.

For further information regarding this program, please visit the Parking Cash Out Policy on the SCEA Intranet



GarySe7en
11.14.07 - 12:36 pm

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Sounds good but seems like some employee just gained a whole lot more paperwork to do. Allowing people to change their minds every month and the inflow of requests and availability will surely be a big pain in the ass for Doug or whomever is going to be handling this, but i guess its a small price to pay to reduce our carbon footprint, lessen traffic etc.

And i'm surprised they are reimbursing the equivalent of the parking space fees. I would have thought Sony would have skimmed a bit off the top yet still made it an attractive incentive for the employees.

Very cool.
s



stevo4
11.14.07 - 1:06 pm

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Victory!

Hey how about they donate all that extra cash into, I dunno

AIDS LIFE CYCLE!!!





dannyzuko
11.14.07 - 1:20 pm

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that is great!!! =)



mixtemotions
11.14.07 - 2:08 pm

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