Bethesda employers take carpooling to next level

Downtown Bethesda has long been one of the county’s most congested areas, with failing intersections despite an abundance of mass transit options.

Employers in the Bethesda Transportation Management District, which essentially covers downtown Bethesda, are increasingly turning to county and local programs to get employees out of cars.

Super Fare Share is a nine-year program to support transit benefits for workers. It is a county-funded initiative that nonprofit Bethesda Transportation Solutions coordinates in downtown Bethesda.

The program allows all employers in Bethesda, North Bethesda and Friendship Heights transportation management districts to share cost of transit benefits with the county.

Employers contribute $1 per worker per month during the employer’s inaugural year. During the employer’s first year, the county pitches in more than $100 monthly per employee.

The program weans employers off the subsidy during the next eight years until the employer is covering almost all the cost of Metrorail and Ride On transit benefits.

The idea is ‘‘to get employers active and involved in promoting transit, and making that really a substantial and true benefit,” said Danielle Milo, director of Bethesda Transportation Solutions.

By the end of last year, 72 companies in downtown Bethesda’s high-traffic district had signed up for the Super Fare Share program.

The enthusiasm among employers in the area has ‘‘been building,” Milo said, adding that some companies help their employees pay for bicycles and tennis shoes.

The organization has upcoming events and contests to convince commuters to ditch their vehicles. The eighth annual Bike to Work Day is May 16. A ‘‘Walk and Ride” contest in September will reward teams of employees for walking, based on a weekly pedometer log.

The other downcounty transportation management districts also offer the program and free rideshare matching services.

Outside of downtown Bethesda’s commercial hub, large companies and federal institutions are luring workers out of their cars.

The National Institutes of Health on Rockville Pike has commuter incentives and programs regularly used by about 6,000 to 7,000 employees — more than one-third of the total NIH workforce. The agency has reserved parking for vanpools and carpools, gives employees up to $115 per month for public transportation and works with summer internship coordinators to find transit options for interns. The NIH added 13 shower and bike lock-up facilities on and off campus to encourage bicycling.

‘‘We are working with as many groups as we can find and identify to continuously mitigate our traffic,” said Thomas Hayden of the agency’s Division of Travel and Transportation Services. But, he said, ‘‘while NIH makes up a portion of the overall traffic, we’re not the only ones out on the roadway.”

In all, the Bethesda and Chevy Chase area work force makes up three of the four transportation management districts in the county — with all employers of 25 or more people required by county law to have a traffic mitigation plan.