Governor Implements Plan to Help Decongest Roadways

SACRAMENTO —  Gov. George Deukmejian on Saturday put into motion his plan to help decongest traffic-choked highways in urban areas by offering state employees incentives to leave their cars at home.

The governor issued a set of executive orders to state agencies that fleshed out the proposal he first outlined Aug. 26 when he announced creation of a state Office of Traffic Improvement.

For starters, Deukmejian recommended that the state pay one-half of an employee’s monthly transit pass up to $15, and he directed establishment of an experiment under which urban state workers using public transit or van pools would be given 30 minutes a day of compensated time.

The government-subsidized transit pass would be subject to collective bargaining with employee unions, he said. A Deukmejian spokesman estimated the state Civil Service work force in Southern California at between 35,000 and 40,000. Statewide, there are about 150,000 state civil servants, he said.

Deukmejian, whose $1-billion transportation bond plan was defeated by voters in June and who is under pressure to move against the state’s worsening traffic problems, provided details of his plan in his regular weekly radio speech and in two executive orders. Providing further details, the governor said he wants state employee van pool drivers to be paid up to $50 a month. The plan also calls for state workers to reduce by 10% the number of trips they take during rush hours, expand use of staggered work hours and reschedule “nonessential”truck deliveries.