Vanpooling
From PortlandAfoot
Vanpooling is like carpooling, except with more people and, usually, government subsidies. Vanpools typically include 5 to 15 riders who commute regularly from homes in one area (or a single meeting location such as a park and ride) to workplaces in another area.
Metro has estimated that people who drive alone to work can cut their commute costs by 75 percent by switching to a vanpool. Commute costs per vanpooler, including fuel, were estimated at $60 to $95 a month for a 30-mile round trip, compared to $266 by car.
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[edit] How to join a Portland-area vanpool
See also "how to start a vanpool" at Metro.
[edit] Finding an existing vanpool
Many vanpools are looking for more recruits. See if you can join them by visiting the ride-matching websites of your local vanpool providers, and also check Carpool Match NW, a regional ride-sharing database. An improved, regional ride-sharing site, RideShareOnline.com, is expected to come to the Portland area in 2011.
See also Metro's list of standing vanpools.
[edit] Starting a new vanpool
To qualify for tax benefits, a vanpool requires a commute of at least 10 miles in one direction and at least five riders. A few more riders is good, to be safe. Your human resources department may be able to help track down other workers who live in your area.
Contact your local vanpool providers. If your trip involves Clark County, the cheapest option is probably C-Tran. If not, the cheapest option is probably one of the companies subsidized by Metro, VPSI or Enterprise Rideshare.
[edit] Five tips for starting a vanpool
- Recruit a champion. Groups like these are best organized by one person who becomes the clear point of communication for everyone. Get someone to play this role, at least for a while.
- Look next door. Too many would-be vanpoolers give up because they can't find enough suitable ride-sharers in their company. Walk to nearby workplaces to look for recruits.
- Bring the bosses on board. One change to one vanpooler's working hours can sink a vanpool. Before the vanpool starts, explain this to everybody's supervisor, so they'll be more sympathetic if something comes up.
- Meet halfway. Consider arranging to meet at a park and ride or other free parking lot rather than sending the vanpool to everyone's door. This makes it easier to bring people in from a variety of distances.
- Steer clear of the flakes. One person who is persistently late can ruin a vanpool for everyone. Draw a hard line on departure times.
[edit] Local vanpool providers
In the Portland area, four vanpool services compete for riders, government contracts and employer affiliations:
- VPSI - main website - ride-matching website
- Rideshare, a division of Enterprise Rent-a-Car - main website - ride-matching website
- EcoShuttle - main website
- C-Tran's in-house vanpool service, available only for rides that involve Clark County - vanpool website
[edit] Subsidies for vanpooling
Because vanpools tend to appeal to wealthier people than other sorts of mass transit, they are especially effective at getting cars off the road. Governments have responded with generous subsidies for people and employers who create vanpools -- even better than other subsidies for alternative commuting.
With these subsidies, vanpooling has grown fast. The mode grew 148 percent (from a small base) between 1998 and 2008, compared to 20 percent for transit ridership in general.
[edit] Federal subsidies
Like TriMet riders, vanpoolers qualify for income tax benefits for alternative commuters. These can save employers perhaps $200 in annual payroll tax per participant, depending on salary, and employees perhaps $1,000 in income tax annually.
These benefits apply to U.S. workers who aren't self-employed or small-business owners.
[edit] Extra subsidy in Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas counties
Metro subsidizes half the cost of van rentals, not including gas, for vanpools. It also offers employers a free emergency ride home program. To qualify for the subsidy, a vanpool must:
- travel to a destination in the Portland metropolitan area, not including Clark County
- originate at least 10 miles from the destination or travel through a congested corridor
- use one of the Metro VanPool providers; as of 2010, that's VPSI and Enterprise Rideshare
- maintain a minimum of five participants, including the driver, three or more days a week.
[edit] Extra subsidy in Clark County
C-Tran directly subsidizes its in-house vanpool program by charging below-market rates for the service. C-Tran offers both 7-seat and 12-seat vans and includes a free emergency ride home program, which pays for your taxi in the case of an urgent need or unscheduled overtime.
For more information, contact C-Tran using information on its vanpooling site.
[edit] 2011 rate cut
In 2011, C-Tran's price for a 7-seat van for a 25-mile round trip dropped to $319 per month, gas included, from $515. That's a 38 percent reduction, to as little as $46 per passenger for a month's commuting.
Vanpool coordinator Brad Windler said C-Tran was able to cut the price by reducing the amount of his time that is devoted to vanpool sales and by joining a public insurance pool which adjusts risk based on miles driven.
"Now's the time," Windler said in January 2011. "You'll never see it this cheap again."
He added that C-Tran plans to increase rates in the future only to reflect increases in gas or insurance rates, so a large spike is unlikely.
[edit] Ups and downs of vanpooling
[edit] Advantages
Compared to other modes, vanpooling tends to be:
- Friendly. Unlike bus or train commuters, vanpool riders usually work together and may already know each other. Because they usually ride together daily, vanpool riders become friendly with each other.
- The greenest form of mass transit. Because vanpools usually don't form until they have at least five members, and disband if they ever fall below five, vanpools tend to be extremely efficient per rider. In 2010, a study by the Federal Transit Administration found that vanpools were the greenest of all motorized transportation, with an average-occupancy vanpool producing less carbon dioxide per passenger-mile than any other mode.
- Cheap to operate. Because vanpool drivers are typically unpaid, vanpools also tend to be cheaper to operate per passenger-mile driven, even though the vehicles sit idle for most of the day.
[edit] Disadvantages
Compared to other modes, vanpooling's disadvantages include:
- Difficulty to schedule. Vanpooling requires many people who work relatively similar shifts. This is not possible within many companies.
- One-tier pricing. Unlike TriMet, Portland vanpools don't offer extra discounts for seniors, teens or people with disabilities.
[edit] Rewards for vanpool referrals
As of August 2010, VPSI offers $200 rewards to people who successfully refer new groups of people to form VPSI vanpools.
[edit] External links
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