GO ITHACA program expanding

Downtown Ithaca Employers & Residents Now Eligible for Transportation Benefits Program

ITHACA JULY 2, 2020 — GO ITHACA, the community’s transportation benefits program, is expanding to offer its membership to downtown Ithaca’s employers and residents.
Since February, the program has been recruiting and providing discounted transportation options and other perks to downtown employees, and now the area’s employers and residents are able to participate in this Downtown Ithaca Alliance and state grant-supported program.
“During the first couple of months of this program, we received a tremendous response from downtown employees. Now, we’re including employers and residents in our special transportation deals and informative and educational resources so that everyone can enjoy affordable and sustainable transportation while improving the environment,” says GO ITHACA Program Manager Lauren Gabuzzi.
GO ITHACA’s employer and resident members will be treated to many of the same excellent benefits downtown employee members receive — Backup Ride Home, discounts on monthly and occasional parking, financial credits towards an Ithaca Carshare membership, a gift certificate towards the purchase of active commuter wear and accessories, carpool matching, and more.

Plus, employers will receive additional perks such as a free one-year Carshare Business Membership and impactful resources to help them craft workplace policies for telework, flex work, staggered scheduling, and a host of other transportation benefits. All members also receive deep discounts on monthly TCAT bus passes once the fare-free period ends in September. The program also hosts informative webinars, self-guided excursions, and virtual social events where its members can celebrate their car-lite/car-free lifestyle.
“We’re now offering transportation benefits to everyone because we know how hard the pandemic has hit our city and we want to support everyone in being able to access reliable and sustainable modes of transportation. We help our members accomplish this by educating them about the many commuter benefits and efficient transportation options available in the community and providing them with transportation benefits so they may sample affordable, sustainable and greener methods of travel for their daily commute and/or errands,” says Gabuzzi.
“Now that people are starting to return to their workplaces, it’s important for employers to have transportation benefits in place to help their employees achieve a sustainable, reliable, and safe commuting method. When employers offer these benefits coupled with staggered scheduling and telework and flex work policies, they are telling their employees they care about them and their commute,” adds GO ITHACA Outreach Coordinator Darlene Wilber.
To join GO ITHACA and receive these transportation deals and rewards, downtown Ithaca employers, employees and residents simply need to pledge to use a more efficient mode of transportation at least once per week for their commute or to complete errands in the downtown community, or, if they already live a car-lite/car-free lifestyle, they simply need to maintain it. To complete the program pledge and register for the program, visit goithaca.org.
For more information, visit goithaca.org, email support@goithaca.org,  call (607) 277-8679, and check out its Facebook Page.

MEDIA CONTACT
Darlene M. Wilber, Communications Manager
Downtown Ithaca Alliance
darlene@downtownithaca.org

ABOUT GO ITHACA:  GO ITHACA is a Transportation Management Association offered by the Downtown Ithaca Alliance and funded in part by the Climate Smart Community Grant Program, Title 15 of the Environmental Protection Fund through the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. The TMA aims at helping employees and residents commute as well as get around downtown Ithaca while driving alone less by offering free and discounted transportation services. GO ITHACA partners with TCAT, the Center for Community Transportation (a consortium comprised of groups like Ithaca CarShare and Bike-Walk Tompkins), and other local transportation providers. GO ITHACA was initiated by the Downtown Ithaca Alliance in 2016 as a pilot Transportation Demand Management Program funded in part by New York State Energy Research and Development and the New York State Department of Transportation.


ABOUT THE DOWNTOWN ITHACA ALLIANCE: The Downtown Ithaca Alliance is a 501c3 not-for-profit organization charged with the revitalization, development, promotion, and management of the Downtown Ithaca Business Improvement District, which includes the popular Ithaca Commons pedestrian mall and surrounding streets.