This week’s Commuter Pool Party, hosted by Commute.org and Spare the Air, brought government entities, employers, and transportation service providers together to discuss solutions to the current commute crisis. Nationally, time spent on the daily commute has continued to increase, causing it to become one of the leading causes of employee turnover. In fact, a recent study by Robert Half found that 23% of workers have quit a job due to a painful commute.

However, at the same time, the rise of innovative technologies has provided enterprises with more options than ever to mitigate the commute’s impact on their workforce. At the Pool Party, attendees dove into the current challenges of the commute and showcased effective strategies employers can incorporate into their transportation management programs.

Solving the commute is the employer’s responsibility

The event kicked off with a keynote from John Ford, Executive Director of Commute.org, and David Canepa, a representative from San Mateo County, District 5. Both are interested in developing ways to promote alternative transportation options for area commuters other than driving alone.

Ford and Canepa stated that in a 2017 survey, 83% of respondents said that congestion in the Bay Area should be considered a state of emergency.

While traffic is one of the first things that comes to mind when discussing the commute, the speakers pushed attendees to think beyond that. Our dependence on cars not only contributes to congestion but also increases pollution and can even cause adverse health effects for commuters and entire communities.

How can we solve this crisis? Ford and Canepa said that the answer lies in how organizations leverage technologies, like Scoop, to lower the amount of single-occupancy vehicles (SOVs) clogging our roadways.

“It is the employers’ responsibility to change the paradigm. SOV rates in San Mateo are at 70% — and that is unacceptable.”

By providing comprehensive transit solutions, leading businesses and small employers alike can take an active role in reducing the prevalence of solo commutes regionally.

How employers are addressing the commute

Multiple employers spoke about their path to building transportation programs that improved the commute for their workforce.

Dana Aftab, EVP of Business Operations at Exelixis, described how, above all, his organization’s goal was to minimize employee turnover by addressing commute anxiety. By offering a myriad of transit modes such as shuttles, ferries, and promoting Scoop Carpooling, the company hopes to remove all barriers that prevent employees from getting to work. With these strategies, Aftab said that Exelixis has seen parking spots open in their lots, reduced their CO2 footprint, and decreased commute costs.

Michael Alba, the leading transportation executive at Facebook, described his goal of bringing more people together to remove traffic from our roadways. With distributed housing throughout the Bay Area, companies like Facebook are searching for ways to provide alternative commute options to employees without access to buses and public transit.

One of the best ways to do that, Alba noted, is by facilitating carpooling — which works well for longer distances. But, in order for carpooling to work, there needs to be an incentive. Alba pointed to Scoop, which handles all management and coordination for carpooling while incentivizing riders and drivers to incorporate carpooling into their daily routines.

Employers found that utilizing innovative carpooling programs was one of the most effective ways to improve the commute experience, reduce turnover, save on cost, and prioritize sustainability. Not only does carpooling solve multiple pain points for employees, but it also has an underlying benefit of building a community in the workplace.

Carpooling is the most effective transit solution and even builds community

At the event, Jamie Jarvis, Director of Sustainable Transportation Programs at Stanford Research Park (SRP), shared how her company has found a comprehensive commute solution with Scoop. At SRP, carpooling has unlocked a new level of human connection by bringing people together. Jarvis describes how Scoop has helped interns, who are often new to the area, network with co-workers and find mentors during their commute. The interaction provides a mutual benefit, with interns gaining insight into the world of work and forming valuable connections, while more senior employees gain a fresh perspective from someone who’s new to the workforce.

Jarvis stated that carpooling increases quality of life for SRP employees, and what keeps employees coming back to Scoop is how it provides them with a greater sense of community at their employer.

Learn more about how Scoop partnered with SRP to transform the commute for their business park:

Want to bring the numerous benefits of carpooling to your organization? Contact us at business@takescoop.com.

Header image courtesy of SFGate.

Christopher Cox
Social Media Manager, Scoop

Solving the commute crisis is an employer’s responsibility was originally published in The Inside Scoop on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

When we launched Scoop, we envisioned a world where the commute was a convenient and enjoyable part of the day. Part of that vision was to innovate in a way that made the commute experience a flexible one. Easy to control and manage. A commute on your terms.

So, we’ve spent a lot of time refining features that make flexibility a reality.

That’s why today, we’re excited to announce a brand-new scheduling experience: time preferences.

What are time preferences?

The time preferences feature allows you to select an ideal pickup time when scheduling Scoop trips. Now, you have even more opportunities to customize your carpools without reducing your ability to match.

Here’s how time preferences works:

1. When scheduling your carpool, select a pickup window in which you can commit. *This will be your pickup time if you’re riding, or the Rider pickup time if you’re driving.
2. Set a preferred pickup time within your range.
3. Scoop will then try to match you at or near your preferred time, but you can still match anytime within your requested pickup window.

Take a look at this helpful graphic to see the full experience.

Learn more about about setting a time preference by visiting our FAQ or update to the latest version of Scoop to start taking advantage of the latest scheduling experience.

Nico Canova

Product Marketing

Introducing: Time preferences in scheduling was originally published in The Inside Scoop on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

At Scoop, we’re dedicated to making carpooling as convenient and enjoyable as possible, ensuring that carpooling can be the cornerstone of an improved commute solution for enterprises and organizations.

Together with the Scoop Community and our enterprise partners, we’ve ensured that commuters across the greater San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, Portland, Reno, and Los Angeles can rely on Scoop as a sustainable alternative to driving alone.

From our years of partnering with forward-thinking enterprises like Expedia and Stanford Research Park, we know that gaining visibility into commuter modes is one of the first steps toward impacting behavior change.

During this time, we’ve partnered with both Luum and RideAmigos, the leading commute management platforms for enterprises and universities across the country. We’re honored to play a role in helping organizations understand, manage, and influence employee commute behavior.

Together, we’ve powered comprehensive commuter solutions for forward-thinking organizations looking to mitigate the commute’s impact on their employees. With tens of thousands of integrated users and hundreds of thousands of authenticated carpool trips over the past 24 months, we’re helping employers understand the fundamentals of commuter behavior, empowering them to take the first steps in creating meaningful change.

Interested in taking the first steps in mitigating the commute’s impact? Let us know.

Powering Comprehensive Commuter Solutions with Luum and RideAmigos was originally published in The Inside Scoop on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Last week, Jeff Weiner, CEO of LinkedIn, stopped by Scoop HQ to share insights on everything from successfully scaling a company, investing in and maintaining a positive culture through hyper-growth, and how to best find a mentor in the workplace.

In the year and a half since Jeff last visited our office, our employee count has tripled, and we continue to see rapid expansion across our organization. Needless to say, we’re at a critical point in our growth. As companies enter 2019 with ambitious goals, many of them are asking the same questions we are: how can they continue to scale, recruit and retain competitive talent, and build a culture of diversity and inclusion?

A big ask, but an important one.

Jeff has spent over 10 years of his career growing LinkedIn into a multi-billion dollar company. Along the way, he helped create a truly remarkable company culture for his 13,000+ employees. We couldn’t think of a better person to take the stage.

Below, you’ll find the four most impactful takeaways for growing any business.

If you don’t create a codified set of values, others will

Employees will fill the empty vacuum with their own.

LinkedIn’s culture and values are among their most notable competitive advantages. They resonate with candidates and produce an environment that prioritizes personal development and enrichment.

But that wasn’t always the case. It took dedicated effort and investment from executives and the company as a whole to bring those values to life internally. Jeff recommends defining your vision, mission, culture and values to establish a company identity that can allow you to attract and retain talent. You can learn more about LinkedIn’s Vision to Values approach here.

At Scoop, we embody our mission and values every day. They drive the organization and foster a sense of community within the company.

You only go as far as your talent

Talent is the #1 operating priority at LinkedIn.

According to Jeff, maintaining a high bar has been instrumental to LinkedIn’s success. As an organization grows — whether you’re a hyper-growth startup or an established company with hundreds of employees — it’s important to invest in efficient recruiting processes that cultivate a strong talent lever. It’s also important to invest in onboarding, learning and development, and performance evaluation for existing talent as well.

By refusing to compromise on these foundational initiatives, a company can grow at a steady pace and hire candidates who will help propel the business to new heights.

D&I is nothing without belonging

Without inclusion and belonging, employees can’t reach their full potential.

Organizations can hire as many employees as they want to achieve diversity goals, but they won’t retain them without inclusion and belonging. Without it, employees are more likely to feel alienated and disengaged.

LinkedIn prioritizes diversity, inclusion, and belonging in both their hiring process and company culture, with the ultimate goal of helping everyone at the company thrive. Using the meeting as a metaphor, he described diversity as the act of ensuring your team’s composition reflects the customers you are serving, inclusion is inviting those employees to a meeting, and belonging is ensuring that once they have a seat at the table, they feel comfortable enough to contribute.

Employees should also learn about their unconscious biases, which often come up during the hiring process. Through compassion and empathy training, people can not only recognize their behavior but also make efforts to change and improve it. Companies and individuals often strive for empathy, but that only means they can recognize and understand another’s feelings. Compassion, in Jeff’s opinion, was the next step of not just understanding, but also taking action.

At the end of the day, every employee wants a voice. They want to be heard and feel valued. Building an environment that supports them can become one of your biggest competitive advantages as an organization. When you have more voices at the table, you’re exposed to new, unique insights that you otherwise might not find.

Even the smallest things matter

The smallest things can send the wrong signals.

The smallest details can make a big impact on the way companies create and maintain an inclusive environment for employees. Jeff gave one example from LinkedIn of an unintentional misstep: after a major milestone, the team organized a celebration at their headquarters. However, LinkedIn has offices in more than 30 cities around the world — quickly, the organization realized it was a missed opportunity to bring the celebration to LinkedIn employees worldwide.

Jeff and his team set out to scale a culture that connects each office together, no matter where they are across the world, while still celebrating each office’s unique, local culture. He also pushed for everyone — including himself — to remove terms like “remote office” from the company lexicon as to not alienate employees.

At first, these small details might feel a bit innocuous. Over time, though, they can compound and leave an unfavorable impression on your workforce.

Jeff’s advice is to pay more attention to the small things. Address any issues as they come, and work swiftly toward a solution. This type of proactive leadership will help shape company culture for the better, in 2019 and beyond.

At Scoop, we advocate for our employees by fostering open, honest, and constructive communication. By encouraging everyone to share their perspective, we’ve developed a work environment that uplifts every member of our team. We recently sat down with Haley Hinze, one of our Software Engineers, who said that Scoop allowed her to take initiative and reach her full potential:

Interested in keeping up with Scoop? Be sure to follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Christopher Cox
Social Media Manager, Scoop

Jeff Weiner at Scoop: How to Effectively Scale Your Business was originally published in The Inside Scoop on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Over the past three years, that belief, combined with carpoolers like you, has grown to a remarkable level of impact. Whether you drive or ride, two days a week or every day, your impact is undeniable.

Check out our infographic below to see how it came to life in 2018:

From all of us at Scoop, thank you for choosing a commute that’s not only convenient and enjoyable, but one that’s better for people and our planet. As we look forward to 2019 and beyond, we can’t wait to see what we’ll accomplish together next.

Lili Salzberg

Head of Community

Celebrating an Incredible Year of Carpooling was originally published in The Inside Scoop on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The Alaskan Way Viaduct, a major northbound thoroughfare into downtown Seattle, will be closed from three to six weeks starting on January 11, 2019. This closure — commonly referred to as the impending Seattle Squeeze — is expected to cause heavy congestion, particularly during key commute times.

We know that dependability and punctuality are often top priorities when planning your commute, especially during increased construction. That’s why we’ve partnered with King County Metro and the Seattle Department of Transportation to provide convenient, enjoyable, and reliable carpooling to help get you through the Seattle Squeeze and beyond.

King County Metro

Starting in December, we partnered with King County Metro to take proactive steps encouraging shared transportation during the closure. For a limited time, King County Metro is offering incentives to commuters who choose to carpool rather than driving alone, providing discounts for Riders and higher reimbursements for Drivers. Note that the application of incentives may vary based on your employer’s partnership with Scoop.

Here’s how to participate:

• Download the Scoop app, available on both iOS and Android
• Schedule your carpool at the locations and times that work for your commute
• Get matched with neighbors or co-workers going your way
• All carpools within King County will be automatically eligible to receive the benefit

Seattle Department of Transportation

The City of Seattle cannot make mobility changes alone, and are asking residents and visitors to help maintain mobility on their streets by reducing daily downtown Seattle trips:

• If you can, explore alternative commutes like biking, walking, carpooling, vanpooling, or public transit — particularly light rail and King County Water Taxi, if you can access it.
• Avoid driving by yourself downtown.
• Talk to your employer about shifting your travel time, if possible.
• Visit www.seattle.gov/traffic for all your Seattle Squeeze information and resources, subscribe to travel time updates to get fast connections to tips and tools from partners at WSDOT, King County Metro, Sound Transit and Commute Seattle.

The commute can weigh heavily on all of us. Studies have shown it impacts our health and happiness, as well as our productivity at work. For more information and resources to help prepare for the closure, visit King County Metro and the Seattle Department of Transportation.

As always, if you have any feedback, don’t hesitate to reach out to us.

Resources to help you through the Seattle Squeeze was originally published in The Inside Scoop on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

What are the first few things you read on a resume? A name and an address. While these may seem like harmless details at first glance, new research reveals that an address may actually perpetuate bias and inequity in the hiring process. In fact, the study finds that employers are less likely to contact applicants if they live too out of the way.

At Scoop, we’re always looking for valuable insight into the commute’s impact on employee experience. The study — conducted by David Phillips, Associate Research Professor of Economics at the University of Notre Dame—demonstrates that a lengthy commute can affect folks before they even get the chance to interview.

Phillips and his team of researchers submitted over 2,000 fictional resumes to employers in Washington D.C., finding that applicants who lived 5–6 miles farther from the employer’s location received about one-third fewer callbacks.

This is challenging for some applicants, particularly those of lower-wage jobs. Urban revitalization and increased cost of living have pushed low-income, minority communities further away from economic opportunity and into neighborhoods with little or no access to reliable and affordable transportation.

Here’s the problem: an employer may pass on an applicant for fear that the already high rates of absenteeism and turnover will only increase with a longer commute. We understand the fear, but that doesn’t make it right. Phillips suggests three alternatives to combat this bias:

• Be aware of the equity implications of your employment locations and practices. Selecting employees based on distance can drive social inequity, not to mention redline entire communities. Bear in mind that varying or inconsistent hours — especially with limited access to transportation — may complicate travel arrangements, and perpetuate turnover and absenteeism.
• Improve your employees’ access to reliable and affordable transportation. Employers who offer company-wide public transit programs have seen an increase in productivity and retention. Transit initiatives will pay for themselves by cultivating a thriving workforce.
• Invest in a broader range of public-private partnerships to enhance both your business and the greater public good. Aside from public transportation, employers in densely and sparsely populated areas are investing in third-party vendors to provide a range of commute options. Corporate bus, shuttle, and carpool programs are steadily growing in popularity.

We believe that transportation should never be an obstacle to economic opportunity. Scoop helps employers understand the impact commuting has on employees and key business priorities. During meaningful conversations with enterprises, we discuss a series of four questions. These aim to bring to light how commuting influences the overall competitive advantage of an employment location:

1. Does this location create an unnecessary burden on employees to get to/from work?
2. Does this location have a network of reliable and cost-effective commuting options?
3. Will all employee schedules/shifts have access to those commuting options?
4. Are these commuting options flexible enough to meet employees’ needs?

Now, we recommend adding a fifth:

5. Have you evaluated your employment practices for bias that might reinforce inequity?

Is your company actively evaluating employment practices for potential commute bias? Or, have you ever experienced discrimination because of your commute? Let us know in the comments below, or tweet us at @takescoop.

Charles Knuth
Head of Insights, Scoop

Is your organization biased against commute length? was originally published in The Inside Scoop on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

At Scoop, we value the opportunity to nurture and grow the careers of all of our employees. Whether that means helping co-workers progress further in their roles, or providing them with the support to learn completely new skills, our team is here to help.

Today, we sat down with Nick Evans, one of our Software Engineers and previously a ScoopCare Advisor, to talk about his transition from a role in Community to a position on Scoop’s Engineering team.

Hey Nick! Tell us a little about yourself.

Hi everyone! I’m a transplant from Chicago; I moved to San Francisco about three years ago. I moved here because I’ve always been drawn to San Francisco’s cultural history and California’s amazing natural landscape. Outside of work, I love to road trip to my favorite climbing destinations — in a carpool, of course — go to electronic music or psych rock shows, eat Mission burritos, or be lazy at home with my cats.

Where did you go to school and what did you study?

I attended the University of Illinois and studied Urban Planning, with an emphasis on Sustainability, and double majored in Civil Engineering. These subjects were particularly interesting to me, as I’ve always wanted to find ways for sustainable technology to change and improve the world around us.

Tell me about how you got to Scoop?

After graduating, my first job was working as a transit planning analyst for a consulting firm in Oakland, where I was able to take on a lot of projects in the South Bay. Working with transit agencies and municipalities was a great opportunity, but I also had a strong desire to join a startup that could innovate nimbly.

I felt inspired to join something that was making a big impact in a short amount of time, and that’s how I found Scoop. I was connected with the open role as a Community Advisor and decided to take the career leap. Community was very different from what I was doing before, but I loved Scoop’s mission and clicked so well with everyone during my interview process. I knew this was the right place to take on a new role and try something different.

Can you describe how your role has changed over time?

When I first joined Scoop, I was primarily handling support work, which meant a lot of communicating with our carpoolers and managing operations for our ScoopCare team. I also was able to write a lot of content for our Help Center, which was another core function of my role.

Recently, I completed a company-provided curriculum and was able to move teams to Engineering. I started off my new role by adding internal dashboard improvements for our ScoopCare team along with doing work on our API. Currently, I’m working on building our new blog and undertaking other technical projects.

How did co-workers and mentors help you transition teams?

It all started when we went on our first off-site. I started talking to Guy Hadas, one of our Software Engineers, and our conversation really piqued my interest in engineering. The thought of trying to explore the field was very intimidating at first — it’s basically like learning another language — but Guy encouraged me and helped make it possible. He laid out a potential path for me to learn and grow my skill set.

I spent a lot of time after work and on the weekends taking online courses. After deciding this was definitely the career path for me, Scott Hulbert, Scoop’s CTO, stepped in and put together a custom curriculum that could help me progress into the role of a full-time Engineer at Scoop. My managers, Jake and Lili, and our co-founders, Rob and Jon, were all incredibly supportive in streamlining the process and helping coordinate my transition between teams.

Looking back, it’s clear to me that everyone at Scoop really took the time to listen, understand my personal goals and aspirations, and help me grow my career.

What’s one of your favorite new responsibilities?

Working on our upcoming blog has been a great experience. It’s been great to learn new skills every day while putting together a platform for editorial content. It’s been a valuable experience to not only see the project come together, but also work cross-functionally with the Marketing team. Throughout my time at Scoop, I’ve always been able to work with new teams and continue to learn how they function. Now that I’m in Engineering, I can do that from a technical standpoint and help teams bring different visions and products to life, which is an incredible feeling

How would you describe the culture at Scoop?

I’ve found the culture at Scoop to be extremely refreshing; everyone is very real and authentic. It doesn’t feel like people separate their work persona from a home identity. It all comes together here and people are their actual selves.

Scoop definitely has some incredibly talented and hard-working people. However, the daily work environment remains very calm. We’re accomplishing big things, but it doesn’t feel like we’re being rushed to make it happen. We’re at a very comfortable place and it continues to feel that way, despite growing to over 100 employees — when I started we were at around 30! It’s remarkable that we’ve been able to retain that culture over time as we grow.

Quickfire Questions:

Who was the last concert you went to?
I’ve been seeing a lot of low-key shows put on by people I know. “Thump Therapy” was the last concert I went to; it’s put on by one of my friends.

What’s your fave fast food chain?
White Castle, hands down.

What’s the last trip you took?
I went to Bishop, CA over Thanksgiving to go climbing.

What would you say to somebody who is considering applying to Scoop?It’s definitely worth it to apply and feel out the interview process and team. If you feel comfortable with the people you meet, you could find a new place to come and thrive, just like I did.

Interested in joining Nick? Check out our open roles here.

Chris Cox
Social Media Manager, Scoop

Meet the Team: Nick Evans, Software Engineer was originally published in The Inside Scoop on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Today, Scoop was recognized as one of 60 companies around the world on the CleanTech Groups’ 2018 Ones to Watch list.

A sister list to the Global Cleantech 100, the Ones to Watch showcases companies that represent segments and sectors of particular interest to investors and organizations, as well as companies that are gaining noticeable market traction.

We’re honored to have been named to the list, but we know that we still have a long way to go. Over 50 billion solo-commute trips are taken every single year in the United States alone, with an average commute length of 15 miles each way. While a mosaic of modes exists for short distances and intracity commutes, longer commutes — ranging anywhere from 5–50 miles, the majority of which commuters are forced to drive alone — have not yet been addressed by technology or new mobility.

We’re proud to bring co-workers and neighbors together into carpools they’ll love, providing a sustainable, shared mobility option for longer distances. We’re helping create a world where public and private organizations can partner to affect meaningful changes on commuter behavior, reduce the number of single occupancy vehicles on the road, and provide first and last-mile solutions that improve the commute for people everywhere.

For the full list of companies named to the 2018 Ones to Watch list, click here.

Scoop recognized in CleanTech Groups’ 2018 Ones to Watch was originally published in The Inside Scoop on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

In October, we held our first #ScoopSelfie contest to celebrate National Rideshare Week and encourage commuters to carpool during their daily trips to and from work. We’re happy to see so many carpoolers making connections during their daily commute!

Check out our winners who each won a $200 Amazon gift card and a few of our other favorite posts:

Congratulations to our winners!

JP on Twitter

Scoopselfie @takescoop saving time going home! Great app!

Henry Ng on Twitter

@takescoop #Scoopselfie

Akash Chitrey on Twitter

Scoop has been a blessing in disguise for me especially since I relocated recently and was completely dependant on public transportation. It's a great initiative to save resources, improve my commute & network with some amazing people! This is my #Scoopselfie @takescoop

Madhwi Khichi on Twitter

Scoopselfie , North , south & east of india all in one frame, made possible by @takescoop

Check out a few of our other favorites:

Anshul Sogani on Twitter

No road is too long if you have good company ! #ScoopSelfie @takescoop

adiyafre on Twitter

Super fun to use Scoop #scoopselfie @takescoop #selfiecontest

Thanks to everyone who participated in the #ScoopSelfie contest! Keep an eye out for future giveaways for more chances to win.

Chris Cox
Social Media Manager, Scoop

And the #ScoopSelfie winners are… was originally published in The Inside Scoop on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.