September 20, 2017
Attendance: Pam Polloni, Taylor Heyl, Sebastien Bigorre, Alex Bocconcelli, Stephanie Madsen
#1 WSS – Lots of discussion centered around new social sustainability offerings, especially because the botany walks were met with such success. More than 20 people attended Pam’s botany walk and lots of employees and families attended the Movies on Fenno lawn over the summer. Future events include:
- Friday, October 13th – Beetlejuice (Rate: PG) Time TBD
- Friday, October 27th – Hocus Pocus (Rated: PG)
Contact: Colin Reed, creed@whoi.edu (turn out low in Oct so may plan winter bon fire instead TBD) - Long Pond (Glacial Moraine Hike)- 3.5 miles -Sunday, Nov. 19th 10:00 am – meet at Goodwill Park (off Gifford Rd)- WHOI, The 300 Committee + Buzzards Bay Coalition
Action:
- Consider leading + schedule any of the suggested events- All Amazing!!:
- Trip to recycling center or invite guest speaker Kari Parcell kari@barnstablecounty (SMM)
- Salt Marsh Tour (leader TBD, date TBD)
- Kayaking Excursion (leader TBD, date TBD)
- Zephyr Oceanography Excursion (leader TBD, date TBD)
- Environmental poetry +/or literature discussion (leader TBD, date TBD)
- Music + Art event (leader TBD, date TBD)
- Bird Walk (leader TBD, date TBD)
- Coastal botany walk (leader TBD, date TBD)
#2 MassRides – MassRides is funded through Mass DOT and offers programs to users of alternative commuting (carpool, vanpool, transit, bike, walk and even telework):
NuRide is a database accessible by web or phone app, that helps you find matching rides with other commuting members for carpools or vanpool. It also has a reward program where you log your alternative commute and earn points useable for discounts at 100+ retailers and stores (Lenovo, Dell, Sketchers, New Balance, JCPenney, Verizon, Plymouth&Brockton, etc) or others such as tickets for NewEngland Revolution games. You setup your account easily and it logs your commutes and saved $, miles, calories etc. NuRide is FREE.
Emergency Ride Home provides regular alternate commuters with up to 4 emergency rides home per year when medical/personal emergency arises. You get reimbursed for eligible emergencies up to $100 per emergency.
- MassRides coordinator, Kyle Bonus, will give a 20 minute presentation during the next STF meeting on Alternative commuting options, van sharing-vouchers, carpooling, biking etc.
- HR kindly sent a list of zipcodes to Kyle for a cluster visual – will enhance carpooling opportunities (done, thanks Sebastien!)
Action: confirm with Kyle for October 18 STF Meeting (Bigelow 217) – she’ll need laptop (SB)
#3 Communication path with HR relating to biking or carpooling incentives + benefits:
- Nicole Wright in HR is the primary contact for alternative transportation benefits, and she’ll communicate directly with Kyle Bonus to set up MassRides programs.
- At this time, HR is not offering bike commuter vouchers/incentives
- HR is receptive to having MassRides participate in Whoi’s Health + Wellness Fair in Oct or November (tbd)
- NEW** HR has some info about carpooling through MassRides on their website (http://www.whoi.edu/website/HR/commuter-benefits). We plan to add this link to our STF Carpooling webpage
#4 Bike Storage Units- Guidelines developed for Swift Barn, Green Container + Carriage House Basement:
Employees are encouraged to contact Steph Madsen smadsen@whoi.edu for lock combination to units
Bike Storage Information and Guidelines
- This unit is intended for daily use, not long-term storage.
- Space will be available on a first-come-first-served basis each day, with priority given to commuters.
- WHOI is not responsible for lost or stolen items, please lock your bike to the rack and secure or remove all valuables.
- Please label your bike with your name/email so we can find you if necessary.
- Please help keep the unit tidy and safe—contact sustainability@whoi.edu if you notice any problems.
- There are three storage units at WHOI: the Green Bike Van behind Clark South, Carriage House Basement and Swift Barn.
#5 Bike Rack on Shuttle – Is there a need to install a bike rack on the back of the shuttle van? Many members think YES a bike rack would be great. Arguments for it: you bike to seminar and exit in rain or darkness and need to shuttle back to Quissett, Village or Dorms.
Action:
- Look into cost of bike rack for shuttle van, talk to Dave/Steve + shuttle drivers (SMM)
#6 Electric Vehicles – We contacted Megan Aki from the Clean Energy Dept.-Planning Council regarding news that they offer vehicle hybrid conversions
Response: “Thanks for reaching out! Apologies for the delay in getting back to you on this. Pricing does vary depending on the vendor you go with – the biggest players in the market for hybrid electric conversions right now for those vehicle types are XL Hybrids and National Fleet Hybrids (also known as Lighting Systems). Generally their technologies range between $10,000 to $30,000. To the best of my knowledge these vendors do not offer a conversion for the F350 Pickups, but both XL and National Fleet Hybrids have offerings for the Transit E350 and XL just came out with a plug-in hybrid conversion option for F-150 and F-250 pickups. Both of these options are in the $20-30k range.
Through our group purchasing program we’ve been able to negotiate significant volume based discounts to help public fleets with the upfront cost. I believe as an non-profit educational institute, Woods Hole may be eligible to purchase off the state contract and could potentially participate in future rounds of MAPC’s program – I will need double check on this though and will definitely keep you in the loop as other opportunities arise.
Please let me know if you have any other questions!
Thanks,
Meg
Megan Aki
Energy Analyst | Clean Energy Department
Metropolitan Area Planning Council
60 Temple Place | Boston, MA 02111
617 933-0795 | maki@mapc.org
#7 New Business
Future Grant ideas – perhaps secure funds from outside sources/Associations to cover costs for events held at Woods Hole Community Hall or Fire Hall– such as yoga, dance, drumming etc.