Take part in the 2021 Earth Month Commuter Celebration

Commuter Services invites you to participate in our newest campaign, the 2021 Earth Month Commuter Celebration! Your pledge to try a sustainable commute just once April 1-30 enters you to win one of two eco-friendly prizes!

According to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, transportation is the leading cause of harmful greenhouse gas emissions, contributing nearly one-quarter of the state’s total GHG emissions. By using a sustainable commute mode such as telework, biking or walking to work, carpooling, or taking a bus or transit to work, you can help to improve our climate!

Everyone who pledges to try a sustainable commute in April is entered to win an electric bicycle or an Earth Friendly Swag Bag, filled with a dry erase notebook, durable shopping bags, natural household cleaners, reusable paper towels, an eco-friendly bento box and more!

Make your pledge now!

Twin Cities Telework webinar series

Commuter Services understands telework has impacted many companies. The pandemic has given employers and employees a crash course in telework, a unique opportunity to learn and refine programming or practices. As organizations make difficult decisions about the nature of returning to the office, we’re offering monthly telework-specific webinars through the Twin Cities Telework webinar series.

Working from home has gone from “the new normal” to a simply “normal” course of operation for many organizations. But whether telework continues in use and popularity six, nine or 12 months from now is something employers and employees alike now ponder. The Twin Cities Telework webinars will provide best practices and assist employers and teleworkers in building positive outcomes in the next phases of telework implementation.

Webinar: Getting it Right – Best Practices for Teleworkers and Their Managers

Thursday, April 29 | 11 a.m. to noon

Join Commuter Services for the telework training webinar, Getting it Right – Best Practices for Teleworkers and Their Managers on Thursday, April 29, 11 a.m. to noon, to learn the organizational and management skills to make telework successful for the long run.

Without the backdrop of a pandemic and the distractions of the past year, telework might look much different in the future. Led by telework expert Elham Shirazi, this webinar provides the training for managers and employees who will be placed in a hybrid or fully remote working arrangement.

Managers will learn pragmatic skills to enhance their remote management of teams, improve communications, develop goals and deliverables, and track challenges and solutions. Teleworkers will gain insight on how to plan a telework day, ensure communication with managers and coworkers, set up a home office, deal with distractions and improve productivity while striking a home/life balance.

Principal of e-planning, presenter Elham Shirazi has shared her telework expertise with numerous public and private organizations – including Commuter Services – for more than 30 years. Her perspective will be especially valuable to employers as they make decisions about telework as a long-term operational strategy.

Getting it Right – Best Practices for Teleworkers and Their Managers is presented as part of the Twin Cities Telework webinar series.

Register now

Twin Cities Telework Webinar Archive

Watch Working from Home: Lessons Learned Over the Past Year

View slides from Working from Home: Lessons Learned Over the Past Year

Watch Telework and the Current Commute

View slides from Telework and the Current Commute

METRO Orange Line Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) presentation

Learn about the METRO Orange Line Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) connecting bus plan from the people how know it best – Metro Transit Senior Planner John Dillery and Outreach Coordinator Juan Rangel. In this webinar, they highlight the Orange Line service scheduled to open in late 2021 along the I-35W corridor, connecting Burnsville, Bloomington and Richfield to south Minneapolis.

When complete, the Orange Line will replace existing bus routes 535 and 597. The concept plan in place also proposes changes to bus routes in Bloomington, Edina and Richfield, including routes 515, 535, 537, 538, 539, 540, 542, 553 and 597.

Commuter Services hosts this presentation.

Watch METRO Orange Line Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) presentation

View slides from METRO Orange Line Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) presentation

Commuter Spotlight - Carpooler rock stars Catherine Diaz and Christine Wrazen

With National Siblings Day on April 10, the Commuter Spotlight shines on sisters Catherine Diaz and Christine Wrazen, both employed by Willis Towers Watson in Bloomington. They carpool, they telework and when it’s nice out, they walk! Check out their fun story for more about these rock star commuters! click here.

January Prize Winner - $100 Visa Gift Card

Patty Turner, Western National Insurance
Telework Pledge

“I like working from home because I have a nice, quiet place to work and I can get a lot done. My commute upstairs is also great, but I miss carpooling with my sister and our long chats every day.”

2021 Events

• January - Monthly Incentive to Try a Sustainable Commute Mode (Prize: $100 Visa Gift Card)
• February - Monthly Incentive to Try a Sustainable Commute Mode(Prize: Aluratek HD Webcam and Ring Light.)
  Heart Health Month
• March - Monthly Incentive to Try a Sustainable Commute Mode (Prize: MEDIFY AIR - Air Purifier MA-25.)
• April - Earth Month Commuter Celebration (Prizes: Electric Bicycle or an Earth Friendly Swag Bag)
  Earth Day is April 22
• May - Monthly Incentive to Try a Sustainable Commute Mode
• June - One Less Car Challenge
  Dump The Pump Day is June 17
• July - One Less Car Challenge
• August - One Less Car Challenge
• September - Monthly Incentive to Try a Sustainable Commute Mode
• October - Monthly Incentive to Try a Sustainable Commute Mode
• November Monthly Incentive to Try a Sustainable Commute Mode
• December - Monthly Incentive to Try a Sustainable Commute Mode

**Additional events will be added throughout the year