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News from King County Department of Transportation
Release date:  Nov. 13, 2007

Metro's vans hit 1,000 mark
Vanpools and vanshares score record ridership; largest public program in U.S.

King County Metro Transit is now “batting a thousand” with its popular VanPool and VanShare commuting programs. For the first time in the program’s 28-year history, there are more than 1,000 vans in operation, supporting a record ridership of 1.9 million passenger trips during the first nine months of 2007.

“This is an encouraging trend as we give people a menu of options that fit a variety of commuter needs,” said King County Executive Ron Sims. “People who participate in these programs are responsible for taking thousands of cars off the road each workday. That means more congestion relief, better air to breathe, and less global-warming emissions. That helps all of us, no matter how we choose to get around.”

Although the van programs have shown steady growth over the years, recently a couple of factors combined caused local commuters to seek more alternatives to driving alone.

“Rising gas prices are definitely driving an interest in commute options,” said King County Director of Transportation Harold Taniguchi. “Also, in August we saw the number of new van startups double due to the big construction project on Interstate 5. Once people experienced how easy it is to use our programs, they were hooked.”

As of Oct. 1 of this year, there were 848 vanpools and 162 vanshares in operation. Compared to the same time last year, it represents a growth rate of: 6 percent for vanpools; 26 percent for vanshares; and about 20 percent growth for total commuter van trips.

The Metro VanPool program debuted in 1979, and throughout its history has been the largest public vanpool program in the nation. It is designed to accommodate commuters traveling to common destinations, with Metro providing the vehicle and everything else for successful ridesharing, including: rider support services; maintenance; insurance; fuel; and tires. Vanpool fares are based on a group's round-trip mileage and the number of riders in the van.

In 2001, the VanShare program was introduced to help bridge the gap between home or work and other modes of public transportation. Vans are typically parked at a transportation hub (rail station, park-and-ride lot, or ferry dock) and used to transport commuters between the hub and their worksites or homes. Costs are split among the vansharers.

Metro Transit General Manager Kevin Desmond said some of the recent increases in the programs can be attributed to incentives provided by Metro and local employers, plus Metro's VanShare program is also seeing growth linked to the addition of new Sounder train service.

“We recently had nine new vanshare groups form at train depots because of the new early Sounder train added at the end of September,” said Desmond. “We’ve also seen increases in both programs due to the promotional campaigns we’ve run over the past year.

“Employers – such as Boeing and Microsoft – really boost the program by encouraging their employees to choose alternatives to driving alone and subsidizing the cost of their commute,” he said. “Microsoft has more than 140 vanpools, and the 315 commuter vans serving Boeing employees include 121 from Metro.”

Desmond said he hopes to see the vanpooling and vansharing numbers jump again in 2008 with a new “Fill It Up – Again” campaign that will launch in January. He said Metro is also working on a carpool incentive demonstration aimed on reducing drive-alone car trips on Interstate 405 in the Bellevue and Renton areas. This is the start of King County Metro's plan to expand carpooling options with improved RideshareOnline.com services in 2008.

Updated:  November 13, 2007

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