Where
Sanofi
Mode of Transport
Carpooling
Type of intervention
Events and education
The Challenge
Sanofi is undergoing major construction on their worksite. As a result, only 1,000 parking spaces are available to accommodate approximately 1,600 employees at their worksite. While there is local public transit available and Sanofi has explored many options to increase parking close to their worksite, they needed a comprehensive, cost-effective solution that also aligned with their corporate environmental goals.
The Opportunity
pointA conducted a comprehensive commuter assessment to understand where Sanofi employees were commuting from and commuting challenges they experienced. Carpooling was identified as a key opportunity, with 38% of employees saying they were open to carpooling. In fact, 75 employees were already carpooling.
As a result, Sanofi has set a goal to increase carpooling from 3% (based on pre-pandemic anecdotal data) to approximately 8% of all employees. This would result in taking almost 60 cars off the road every day.
How pointA helped
Through the Smart Commute program, pointA helped Sanofi increase carpool ridership by delivering two innovative virtual carpool mix & mingle events to explain what carpooling is, the benefits, and how to use the Smart Commute Tool to connect with fellow carpoolers in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).
The Results
Over 200 Sanofi staff attended both online carpool mix & mingle events. In addition, over 60 staff registered on the Smart Commute Tool since the first carpool mix & mingle event. The post-event survey showed that the majority of staff who attended were driving alone, followed by several employees who were taking transit. Overall, staff have stated that they want to see more carpool mix & mingle events and felt that the events and materials provided helped them with carpooling to/from work.
By using digital interactive tools and events to promote carpooling, we helped Sanofi make significant strides in reducing the demand for parking in a short period of time cost effectively. This carpooling program is just one of a series of interventions that we are introducing at Sanofi to encourage less driving that is data driven, based on employee needs, and aligns with Sanofi’s corporate goals.
