Congratulations to our team in Portland for being ranked among the Portland metro area's 25 best employers for low-car commuters, according to local magazine Portland Afoot’s 2012 ranking of the region's best commuting benefits.

The survey, conducted by Portland Afoot and the Bicycle Transportation Alliance, was distributed to more than 600 local employers. Respondents were ranked using 10 weighted metrics that measured their friendliness to workers who bike, walk, carpool, telecommute or ride public transit.

Components included free TriMet passes, discounted vanpools and the ability to telecommute or work flexible hours. Employers were also rewarded for not subsidizing auto parking and for providing shared vehicles such as Zipcars rather than reimbursing employees for miles driven on the job.Employers received 10 points if they participated in the BTA’s Bike Commute Challenge and an extra 5 points if their bike commute rate was above 20%. In last year’s challenge, Ecova ranked 3rd in our category - with more than 5,800 miles logged during the month of September. Pretty impressive – and we even had employees outside the Portland office participate!

Thanks, Ecova – for promoting healthy lifestyles among our employees through workplace policies that encourage biking!