At TransitScreen, our focus has always been on lowering the number of drive-alone commutes — whether that's through public transit, biking, carpooling, or any myriad option. With the onset of COVID-19, however, commutes have been completely disrupted (to the point where many of us are simply traveling from our beds to our couches).

As offices begin to reopen and employees begin commuting once more, concern over increased drive-alone rates is rampant. Many employers can't afford to add more parking (or simply don't want to), but employees may not initially feel safe on the subway or bus. We're incorporating real-time parking into our CityMotion mobile app to support your commute management program through this challenging time, while continuing to provide information to push your employees toward sustainable options.

Transit, infrastructure, and policies are constantly changing. That also goes for transportation demand management, especially in the current commuting climate. Employees aren’t commuting in the same way – if at all – right now, and city infrastructure is changing to keep up.

We’ve been writing a lot about how to make commuting easier and safer for employees, mostly about what you can do to encourage sustainable commuting and different options and benefits you can offer. Now it’s time to think about the end-of-trip experience.

We’ve recently been writing about the return to work, and what employers and employers and employees need to do to keep drive-alone commute rates down. To gain a better understanding, we spoke with David Allen from Bikes Make Life Better in San Francisco. David covered what both employers and employees can do to make bike commuting as safe as possible.

The greater Boston area (and Massachusetts as a whole) is in the beginning stages of lifting quarantine orders and reopening. As of now, general office spaces will be allowed to open.. While it’s up to companies and organizations to set their own return-to-work orders, some form of commuting will resume.

As cities begin to roll back quarantine orders, employers have begun thinking about how they’re going to have their employees return to the office. This is no easy task! There are so many factors that go into safely having any number of employees return to the office, from how they’re going to get there to how you’re going to rearrange the physical office setup.

We know commuting isn’t a top priority for many people and employers right now. But, as quarantine regulations begin to be lifted or extended, companies are going to need to analyze how they’re going to move forward. Part of the process is building a commute management strategy that complies with local regulations while providing safe commute options for employees.