D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray is partnering with AU and Gallaudet University in a pilot grant program to encourage employees to live closer to their workplaces.
The program will give each institution between $3,000 and $6,000 per employee, for up to 10 employees.
These funds will help them move within two miles of their workplace, within a half-mile of a Metro station or within a quarter-mile of a bus station, according to a Dec. 20 Washington Business Journal article. Each institution will match the amount of money given from the D.C. government.
Linda Argo, AU’s Assistant Vice President of External Relations and Strategic Initiatives, has worked with the city on the project, called “Live Near Your Work.”
Argo said the project will launch in March at AU, and many details are still being worked out regarding the application process and the rules on the funds.
The project will create a stronger and more stable tax base, cause less pollution and less traffic, and create a reliable workforce, according to Gray’s speech about the project at Gallaudet University Dec. 20.
“Everybody needs to commute less and live more,” said Harriet Tregoning, D.C.’s planning director, in a Dec. 20 speech about the program.
The pilot project, which is hoped to be expanded to other institutions as early as this spring, will give the money in either a grant or a zero percent interest loan and is open to households of all income levels, according to the D.C. Office of Planning.
