Sharing the Ride to Work • December 2001

Next time you are driving to work, look around and you will notice that most cars are carrying only one person. Driving to work alone is a prime contributor to traffic congestion, air pollution (a growing statewide problem) and wastes energy. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, the number of hours per capita that people spend delayed by traffic congestion in metropolitan areas such as Northern Virginia, Richmond and Hampton Roads has increased by 95 percent in the last decade. The D.C. area has the 4th worst traffic congestion in the country.

What are the alternatives? Some commuters can ride the bus, train or metro. In Virginia, for FY2000, the total public transportation ridership increased by 10 percent to about 158 million trips over last year. But fixed bus or train routes don't always have the flexibility or aren't easily available to all commuters. Ridesharing and vanpooling can help to fill the gap.

Rideshare agencies help to match people who live close together and work in the same area. These commuter agencies have been established in all regions of the state and provide a wide range of services to meet both employer's and individual's needs. Commuters can call a Rideshare agency or visit a commuter store for information on all forms of transportation -- transit, van-pooling, ridesharing, teleworking, biking and walking -- to reduce the number of single occupant vehicles on the road.

Agencies provide services including relocation assistance to employers through the use of sophisticated GIS-based software, parking management, transportation assessments, commuter surveys and on-site transportation promotions. In the next two years, Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation will launch a statewide Web-based commuter-matching database connecting all of the state's commuter assistance agencies enabling a person to log on, fill out an application and receive information on potential rideshare partners. Links will be provided to all commuter agencies and transit providers in the state.

Ridesharing can significantly broaden the labor pool for employers and reduce the number of commuter cars on the road. It works in both urban and rural areas, as these examples illustrate.

In the major commuting corridors in Northern Virginia, transit/ridesharing captures at least half of all peak period person trips inbound crossing the Beltway in competition with the single-occupancy automobile. Saving time is of major importance. In the I-95 corridor from Dumfries to Washington, D.C., a 30-mile trip, travel time in conventional lanes is 58 minutes vs. 31 minutes in HOV lanes -- a savings of 27 minutes.

Through the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission, Rideshare, Charlottesville Transit Service, Greene County Transit, JAUNT and University Transit Service are working together to provide customer service and to market transportation options to residents throughout the region. The team also provides employers assistance to develop and implement traffic reduction programs, interacts with local and regional agencies in the development of Park and Ride lots and provides a Guaranteed Ride Home Program for those individuals commuting via transit, carpool, vanpool, bicycle or by walking.

When Bev Burks's family sold their business in Orange, 12-14 trained individuals were out of work. Bev and a partner started a similar company in Ashland. The question was where to find trained people -- like those in Orange. The solution came from Richmond Ridefinders. Now everyday the people from Orange vanpool to work and home. "As employers, we know that our employees will be at work and on time. That is very important when you are a production oriented company," Bev said.

Arlington Transportation Partners clients manages two websites (CommuterPage.com and CommuterDirect.com) designed to help commuters share the ride. There are three Commuter Stores located in Ballston, Rosslyn and Crystal City. All report experiencing an increase number of sales to customers for tickets and passes on the Metro. During FY 2000, the stores served over 200,000 retail customers and sold $6 million in transit fare media. At the start of 2001, one in three people working in Arlington worked for companies that are Arlington Transit program clients representing 325 employers and nearly 70,000 employees.

Not all commuter agencies are alike. Each agency tailors their approach to the needs of each region. Fredericksburg's Rappahannock Area Development Commission (RADCO) Rideshare program focuses on meeting the needs of long distance commuters heading north to northern Virginia and Washington, DC. They facilitate one of the largest privately owned vanpool fleets in the country. They also promote and provide assistance for commuters using the Virginia Railway Express commuter rail.

Beginning with only three employees, the Richmond Omni Hotel now has 50 people vanpooling to work through their partner rideshare agency, Ridefinders. The Omni encouraged this interest by advertising on staff bulletin boards, in paychecks, and kiosks. Rea Simon, Human Resources Regional Director for the Omni Hotel says, "We use it as a recruitment tool -- so when our associates arrive at work, they can focus on the number one priority -- customer service."

When information and alternatives are easily available, many Virginians will stop driving to work alone and start to "share the ride." Statewide, Virginia has one of the most progressive networks of commuter assistance agencies in the country. It is a program primarily funded by state, and some federal dollars. Like other public transportation services, expansion of this program is limited by funding constraints. "Sharing the ride" has tremendous economic benefits for individuals, employers and the state.