Thursday, July 01, 1999
Sharing van ride now a better deal
Grant allows rate cuts, incentives, bonus
BY BEN L. KAUFMAN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Starting today, Rideshare will use its first major federal grant to cut fees for current passengers and pay bounties for new passengers.
Van-pool marketing coordinator Amy Shaw said the three-year subsidy will:
• Reduce existing van-pool fares by 25 percent.
• Give new van pools a 50 percent discount.
• Pay $100 to any van-pool member who recruits someone to fill an empty seat.
• Reimburse new passengers $100 if they stay in the van pool for at least three months.
Rideshare, a service of the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments (OKI), provides vans through a statewide contractor.
The goal is to cut traffic congestion and tailpipe emissions that contribute to smog by making it cheaper for commuters than driving and parking individual vehicles.
Members arrange van-pool schedules. As long as the group starts or ends its journey in the Tristate, Ms. Shaw said, “We'll go where we can find a group of people who want to ride together.”
Two of the 17 van pools come into the Tristate from Dayton, Ohio, and members pay a regular monthly fee of about $60, Ms. Shaw said. Other van pools — with shorter drives — pay less.
Fees cover actual costs, she said, and the $356,436 federal grant is Rideshare's first major subsidy.
Ms. Shaw said OKI sought the money primarily to promote new van pools.
Most van-pools park free in employers' lots or on the Cinergy Field plaza level, courtesy of the city of Cincinnati, she said. When there is a conflict with a sports event, members pay to park elsewhere.
Ms. Shaw said it takes at least seven people to make up a pool for a nine-seat van, or 10-12 for the 15-seat vans.
Typically, she said, drivers ride free and use vans on weekends, paying for additional gas.
Not every van pool wants to fill every seat, she said, but that's up to members. “It just depends on what people are willing to pay.”
Van pools are not meant to provide door-to-door service, Ms. Shaw said, and members usually gather at one or more places where they park free.
Most van pools involve riders with the same employer and similar schedules, Ms. Shaw said, and Rideshare will pay 80 percent of a taxi fare — up to four times a year — if a van-pool member has to miss a ride.
OKI has coordinated the program since 1979, Ms. Shaw said. Rideshare also serves people interested in private carpooling.
Ms. Shaw said 7 percent of Tristate employees rely on car pools. Rideshare does free matchmaking for anyone who wants to form a van pool or car pool.
Ms. Shaw said Rideshare's database includes people “all over the place” who want to join a rider pool but have not found enough people with similar needs.
Potential members should call toll-free 800 241-RIDE.
“We run it through the data base to see if there is anyone in their area driving to the same place at the same time. If we find matches, we send them a list of commuters or we try to match them to existing van pools.”
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