|
|
 |
||
|
Media Center
|
You are in:
Transportation >
Transportation Today
> News |
|
  |
||
|
Metro’s commuter van programs hit high mark; ready to expand again
After seeing record ridership in its commuter van programs,
King County Metro Transit
is poised to kick it up a notch as it plans to expand commute options in
2008.
Metro 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. 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. 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. 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 at reducing drive-alone car trips on Interstate 405 in the Bellevue and Renton areas. This is the start of Metro's plan to expand carpooling options with improved RideshareOnline.com services in 2008. 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. Desmond said some of VanShare’s recent growth can also be 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. |
||
|
|
|
Subscribe to
DOT
Dash Sign-up to receive an e-mail text version of "Transportation Today," along with other significant DOT news by sending an e-mail to us. |
| King County Department of
Transportation See How to contact us Updated: November 13, 2007 |
|
DOT Home |
|
King County | News | Services | Comments | Search |
| Links to external sites do
not constitute endorsements by King County. By visiting this and other King County Web pages, you expressly agree to be bound by the terms and conditions of this site. The details. |
