[Updated Nov. 3 to clarify the difference between Mobility Week and Commute Solutions month]

Austinites already know how bad traffic is in the city, but they might not know all of their commuting options besides driving alone in their cars.

That was the goal of the city's first Mobility Week, held Oct. 20–24, to get residents to try a variety of alternative commuter options from carpooling to using a bike-share program.

Mobility Week is a partnership among the city, Capital Metro, Movability Austin, Austin Plus Social Good and Thrival Company, which helps companies and businesses with sustainability planning, said Glenn Gadbois, executive director for Movability Austin.

Movability Austin works with downtown companies to help them reduce drive-alone behavior by 20 percent by 2020. It 35 members so far, but Gadbois said there are many more nonmember companies that already have alternative commute programs in place.

Gadbois said research of I-35 and other regional roadways indicates building additional roads can only do so much.

"The only thing that models a solution beyond trying to build what we need to build anyway is to reduce how much driving alone occurs out there," he said. "We all agreed to start the overall 2020 Mobility Solutions initiative. It's an invitation to the region's largest employers to have a role in the solution, accept some responsibility for encouraging your employees to do something besides driving alone and get them out of traffic."

On Oct. 31, Commute Solutions, the Austin Transportation Air Quality Program and the city of Austin Office of Sustainability celebrated alternative commute options to culminate the end of Commute Solutions Month in October.

Commute Solutions is a program under the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization, which is responsible for the region's transportation planning. Program Coordinator Julie Mazur said the program has been around since the 1990s but was rebranded in 2011.

The program helps companies find ways to encourage employees to use alternative commuter options such as telecommuting, carpooling, bike-share programs or alternating work schedules. MyCommuteSolutions.com is a platform for residents to find people to carpool with or plan a trip.

"With congestion and the population growth, it's really great to get out there and say, 'Hey, there are the options that you have out there besides always driving alone,'" Mazur said.

The event also recognized companies such as Samsung for their dedication to reducing traffic congestion by using MyCommuteSolutions.com. Samsung has also implemented priority parking for carpools and has shower facilities for employees who ride their bikes to work.

"We realized that we struggled with how to get all these employees to participate in a carpool, ride their bikes or engage in other ways to reduce our impact on transportation," Samsung's Manager of Sustainability Joe Wilzbacher said. "We were able to launch the Commute Solutions' program, [and] that platform really made it simple and fun."

Several companies that offer alternative commute options also attended the Commute Solutions All-Star Commuter Celebration event.

Carma is another carpooling tool that connects people with similar commutes and schedules. If the commute includes using the Toll 183A or Manor Expressway toll road, drivers can receive a 50 percent or free trip depending on the number of carpoolers in their vehicle. Reimbursements are provided through the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority, which manages those toll roads.

Carma Community Manager Lauren Albright said the company has more than 2,000 users, and the community has embraced the concept since its launch in February.

"It's a new concept for people to think about finding a stranger to share a ride with," she said. "We do a lot of things to make people feel comfortable with coworkers or neighbors. We know residents are frustrated with traffic and are interested in anything that can help solve that. Carpooling even just once per week could make an impact on traffic."

B Cycle, the bike-sharing program that launched in Austin in December, also has seen great response from the community, Marketing Director Kristin Nelson said. In October bikes were checked out more than 20,000 times, which Nelson credits to events such as the Austin City Limits Music Festival.

"A lot of our users are fans of alternative transportation, and a lot of them couple it with different modes of transportation," Nelson said. "Being here with the other options and making it all come together for the users makes a lot of sense for us. As the city grows there's always a need to get people in different modes of transportation—get people out of the cars."