Vanpools a Viable Commuting Option Along US 36 Corridor
Louisville, Colorado—Commuting Solutions is teaming up with regional partners to increase the number of vanpools traveling to, or through, the US 36 corridor in preparation for the opening of the US 36 Express Lanes Project by offering new vanpoolers a one-time $75 cash incentive. Next year, the US 36 Express Lanes Project from Federal Boulevard in Westminster to 88th Street in Louisville will open to bus riders, High Occupancy Vehicles (HOV) and solo drivers who choose to pay a toll.
“I really enjoy reading and responding to e-mail and doing things with my hour commute every day. Obviously if you’re driving yourself you can’t do that,” says Brian Kedash, a Boulder resident who commutes to work at Advanced Systems Group in Northglenn. Kedash pays $87 per month to participate in a 6-person vanpool. The vehicle is a Toyota Sienna provided by Way to Go. He recently sold his Volkswagen Jetta, replacing $500 per month in car payments, gas and insurance with the vanpool.
Commuting Solutions subsidized the first month of Kedash’s participation in the vanpool through its program, Curb Your Frustration. Funded by the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT), the Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG) and the Regional Transportation District (RTD), the campaign also provides a one-time $75 incentive to new carpoolers to reduce solo driving along the corridor. New transit riders can receive a free $45 RTD Regional 10-Ride Ticket Book. Currently 43 vanpools with 211 passengers travel along US 36.
Drivers who commute by themselves along US 36 are eligible to apply for the vanpool cash incentive on Commuting Solutions. A list of open and closed vanpools traveling along US 36 is updated monthly on the Commuting Solutions vanpool page.
The savings add up, especially for Boulder residents or employees who can combine multiple cash incentives from different organizations seeking to reduce solo driving. The University of Colorado Boulder is offering a $15 incentive per month through payroll deductions for CU Boulder employees to join a vanpool. The City of Boulder’s GO Boulder program is offering a $20 incentive per month to residents or employees who vanpool.
A vanpool consists of 5-15 passengers commuting 15 miles or more one-way. Commuting Solutions matches people with local vanpool providers such as Way to Go, VanGo and Enterprise Rideshare. The vanpool company provides the vehicle, maintenance and fuel costs in return for a monthly fee from each passenger. Organizations such as the Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG) subsidize many vanpools so that the monthly fee remains low. Through the website MyWaytoGo.org, it’s possible to search more than 100 vanpools posted in the Denver region with more vanpools forming along US 36 every month. When asked how he got started looking for a vanpool, Kedash said, “I was just thinking that there have to be hundreds of people making this commute every day and why not team up with them.”
To learn more about Curb Your Frustration and the vanpool program, visit the campaign page on 36CommutingSolutions.org.
