The Boro, Towers Crescent among top commuter-friendly workplaces in U.S.

Several companies in the Tysons area have earned bragging rights for their efforts to reduce vehicle trips.

The University of South Florida’s Center for Urban Transportation Research announced its annual lists of the Best Workplaces for Commuters and Best Sites for Commuters on Thursday (Jan. 27), recognizing employers and urban projects across the country that promote transit, carpools, vanpools, and telework.

“Receiving this designation is a significant accomplishment,” Best Workplaces for Commuters program manager Julie Bond said in a press release. “Employers named to the list demonstrate a strong commitment to their employees by providing outstanding commuter programs, like telework, discounted transit passes, bicycle-friendly amenities, rideshare solutions, and emergency ride home programs.”

Awardees in the immediate area includes the following:

• ActioNet
• Archer Hotel Tysons
• Bart & Associates
• Citizens’ office at Fairview Park
• Cvent
• FH+H
• Hilton McLean Tysons Corner
• IronNet Cybersecurity
• KeyLogic
• KPMG
• QOMPLX
• Ross, Langan & McKendree
• Slalom
• SpinSys
• Strategic Resources, Inc.
• The Boro (Best Site)
• The MITRE Corporation
• Towers Crescent (Best Site)
• Tyson Corner Center’s Access Tysons concierge service (Best Site)
• Wells + Associates

The first Best Workplaces for Commuters list was unveiled in 2002 by the Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Transportation as an outgrowth of a federal commuter choice initiative started in 1999, according to the program’s website.

The Center for Urban Transportation Research took over the program in 2007.

To get the designation, employers must meet environmentally friendly standards and pay membership dues. 

According to its website, workplaces must meet criteria across three tiers.

To qualify, an employer must offer one primary benefit, such as employer-paid tax-free transit or vanpool passes, teleworking, bicycling or parking cash-out (enabling workers to trade free parking for its cash equivalent).

Other standards, such as supporting benefits and commitments, must also be met.

There’s flexibility for how those standards are met, though, so if a place doesn’t have bicycle racks or shower facilities, it could still fulfill the criteria with other benefits, such as bus stop amenities and an on-site business center.

The Best Sites designation is for commercial developers, shopping malls, corporate campuses, and other developments with multiple employers.