SAVE Award 2011 Ideas

Home-to-Work (HTW) transportation imposes a major cost burden to the taxpayer. Current guidance that governs HTW utilization within the departments of the Executive Branch is overly permissive and leaves room for wide interpretation which leads to overuse and misuse of government vehicles. This is due primarily to a lack of definitions assigned to words in the key subsection of 31USC1344 which allows HTW usage, especially... more »

Instead of developing a new stand alone "pilot biometric credential", and since legislation dictates one, why not consider using the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP's) Trusted Traveler Global Entry credential for this purpose.

Although not specifically tailored for pilots currently, the global entry card could easily accomodate "pilots" via unique data elements within existing IT infrastructure for greater... more »

Mandate that the top 100 ideas at a minimum are forwarded to the involved agency executive for review and comment.

There are an extensive amount of valuable ideas here that may not score number one. It would be tremendous waste of effort if those below number one were not reviewed for consideration. We all have an idea or two here, we all put effort into this, what a waste if the ideas were simply deleted.

Mandate that... more »

We're compensated fairly, why should taxpayers pay for us to get to and from work every day? In the building I work at, there are approximately 4,000 employees. Quarterly transportation benefits ranging from $150 to $290 per person adds up to millions of dollars spent each year...and this is one building! As public servants, we should be asked to shoulder more of the burden of this economy. Let's pay our own way to get... more »

Reduce government travel expenses, employee time, fuel consumption, and air emissions by finally establishing a nationwide high-speed surface transportation system. Such a system would also relieve the current traffic burden on both runways and highways, and can offer comparable door-to-door travel times particularly for regional service. Workforce productivity would increase, thereby helping to improve GDP and the overall... more »

Employees in travel status for trainings, etc. are often denied the use of taxis for transportation and are directed to use an airport shuttle to and from the hotel. However, if two or more persons shared a taxi, it often costs significantly less than a shuttle for each individual.

If a shared taxi ride proves to cost the government less money than a shuttle, then employees should be allowed this option, especially... more »

A cash benefit in lieu of free parking or other valuable transportation benefits should be offered. The Federal government owns a lot of property, and a lot of that property is devoted to car parking. The most efficient way to utilize that space is to have individuals recognize the cost of their actions on that space. By offering Federal employees and others who park at Federal facilities cash in lieu of "free" parking,... more »

Add annual bike share membership to the metro card benefits. It's only a small additional cost to annual metro benefits--$75 per year is only $6.25 per month. Most workers can travel for free to work since it's free for the first 30 min. If they want to use it longer, they can pay the nominal fee or have it so workers can use their metro card (cheaper than metro). Also this would hep finance more stations at every federal... more »

These entities are guzzlers of federal dollars, yet, they continually are in the red and are not effectively managed. Sell them off to the private sector. Let's have a better, more reliable public transportation system (like European trains) and therefore get more people riding them and off the road (thereby saving gas, reducing pollution, etc.)

Every time a government employee has to travel on official duty we are forced to use SATO or some other agency designated travel service to purchase our mode of travel & lodging. I have in my possession a copy of a travel confirmation in which the airline ticket cost the taxpayers $1881.80. This ticket could have been purchased for approximately $1000.00 less online without going through SATO. When you add up all the... more »

Install electric vehicle charging stations in all government parking lots, muncipally run park and rides and give HOV lane priority to electric vehicles (not hybrids). Also, install micro-wind turbines near majory freeways, as wind is always being generated by passing traffic. As well, install solar car ports at all municipally managed park and rides and government parking facilities. The money currently used to subsidize... more »

at the St Louis VA medcial center we have two divisions, (John Cochran and Jefferson Barracks) these facilities are a little under 14 miles apart. we have three Buildings with patient care units in them and on any given day we have patients that have appointments at John Cochran in which either a Para lift van or ambulance is used from local contracts to transport these patients back and forth to these appointments. I... more »

This idea applies to ALL federal agencies. All federal employees and visitors should pay the market rate for parking at ALL federal owned and leased buildings. This will encourage the use of public transportation, telecommuting, and carpooling. It will reduce traffic congestion and cost of road maintenance. It will reduce the federal budget deficit.

Where parking is at a premium for many VHA employees at their duty stations, it would seem reasonable to incentivize employees to car-pool, use public transportation, or purchasing more fuel efficient automobiles used for driving to work. Encouraging VHA employees to seek better, more efficient modes of transportation, and sharing rides with one another would save money, promote healthy living, be more "green", and support... more »

We have varoius alternative transports that cannot reach "highway" speeds. They might be older electric vehicles, bicycles, mopeds, or horse and buggies. Numerous accident occur when these types of transports share the lane with cars and trucks. New lanes would cut fatalities and promote these alternative modes.