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CommuteCon 2020

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The state of the American commute: its impact, implications, and how you can make a change

Charlie Knuth
Head of Market Research
Scoop Technologies

Session Description

Scoop Technologies is the largest carpooling solutions provider operating in the United States today, and CommuteCon 2020 presenter Charlie Knuth is head of the company’s market research division. He joined this year’s event to talk about the current state of commuting in the United States, its impacts, and some of the unique opportunities created by the present commuter landscape.

Charlie began by noting his employer-centric perspective, and reviewed 20 municipalities that were adding jobs at robust rates before the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the economy. Scoop is paying particular attention to those metro areas, as their sharp spikes in job growth signal an impending influx of commuters in need of dynamic transportation solutions.

Importantly, Charlie noted that many of the new jobs in these metro areas have similar profiles, creating intense competition among employers to land the best available talent. In the past, companies simply tended to outdo each other by offering better financial compensation, but today’s job-seekers are increasingly motivated by work-life balance rather than money. As such, commute-related benefits play a fast-rising role in the employment remuneration landscape.

Bad commutes are a leading driver of employee turnover, and while TDM professionals understand this, companies are lagging behind. Scoop is working to bridge the gap by guiding its clients to forward-thinking solutions that will improve their competitiveness in the long run.

He proposes a three-step solution to businesses looking to improve their commuter programs:

Understand your team members, what motivates them, and what matters to them.
Equip your mid-level, hands-on management team with tools to address those needs.
Constantly review your programs to judge their effectiveness and make necessary changes.

Charlie also shared a recently-published ebook, that explains the current state of the American commute, and the ways in which companies that stay ahead of the curve stand to benefit by attracting and retaining superior employment talent. For complete details, be sure to view Charlie’s full presentation.

Walk away with:
Data-driven research showing how the traditional commute is decreasing productivity, adding to costs, and extending the workdays of approximately 145 million Americans;
An analysis of historical and current trends on the transportation modes commuters can depend on;
And proof points illuminating why improving the commute is a fundamental responsibility for employers and governments everywhere.

About the Speaker:
Charlie Knuth leads strategic research initiatives at Scoop, the largest carpooling solution in the United States, partnering with some of the world’s most forward-thinking organizations like LinkedIn, T-Mobile, and Workday to offer convenient, reliable, and safe carpooling to their workforces. As Head of Market Research, Charlie primarily investigates the short- and long-term impact the commute is having on us as individuals, the organizations we work for, and the communities we live in.

Prior to joining Scoop in 2018, Charles spent over a decade in a progression of roles within CEB/The Corporate Executive Board’s Human Resources Practice, which was subsequently acquired by Gartner in 2017. While there, he consulted F100 CHROs and their teams on designing and measuring employee programs to support key business initiatives such as revenue growth, performance improvement, cost optimization. Notable projects include the redesign of partner-level succession management for a large consulting firm, evaluating the effectiveness of global talent acquisition processes and teams for an e-commerce company, and change management for HR M&A of multinational manufacturers.

He received his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (Accounting & Finance) from the University of New Hampshire. Find him on LinkedIn.