Share Costs, Save Gas, Save Cash! SEMCOG's RideShare Program Offers Commuters Relief From Soaring Pump Prices
9 June 2000
Share Costs, Save Gas, Save Cash! SEMCOG's RideShare Program Offers Commuters Relief From Soaring Pump Prices
DETROIT - As Southeast Michigan drivers are hit with soaring fuel prices,
the rising cost of commuting is becoming a formidable drain on family finances.
The high price of gas even threatens to keep some workers home who are
struggling to make ends meet and keep the tank from running dry. SEMCOG, the
Southeast Michigan Council of Governments, has solutions that can cut commuting
costs by 50 percent and more.
Through its RideShare Department, SEMCOG provides, free-of-charge, a full
range of alternative commute services, including information on alternative
work schedules such as flextime and compressed work weeks and commute option
plans such as carpooling, vanpooling and telecommuting. By taking advantage
of alternative commute options, participants:
* greatly reduce their monthly commuting expenses, often saving $1,000
and more annually in reduced fuel, vehicle maintenance and insurance costs,
* contribute to cleaner air by reducing emissions (in 1998, RideShare
participants reduced air pollution by 3,570 tons), and
* reduce traffic accidents, thereby saving lives and protecting public
health (there were an estimated 565 fewer accidents and 160 fewer injuries in
1998).
Carpooling is the easiest RideShare option. Interested commuters simply
complete an online RideShare Application (http://www.semcog.org/rideshare ) or call
313-963-RIDE. Participants are provided with a list of potential pooling
partners based on the applicant's home and work locations and work hours. A
computer program is used to find the best matches within seconds and the
information can be given over the phone, faxed or mailed the same day. Match-
lists contain information on work location, work hours and flexibility, and
whether the match has a car available or is looking for a ride. To protect
personal privacy, home addresses are kept confidential. Participants choose
the matches that look the most suitable to their needs and make ridesharing
arrangements directly with each other.
Another option, a MichiVan vanpool, is a group of seven to 15 commuters
sharing their ride to work in a passenger van owned, maintained, insured and
licensed by VPSI Commuter Vanpools. A member of the group volunteers to drive
the van and pick up riders at agreed upon locations along the route. Vanpool
drivers pay no monthly fees and are offered personal use of their vans at only
25 cents per mile plus any gas used on personal time.
The fear of being stranded in an emergency prevents some commuters from
participating in a RideShare arrangement. In response to this concern,
RideShare developed the Guaranteed Ride Home Program. This program reimburses
taxi fares home for registered RideShare participants in case of personal or
family illness, unscheduled overtime, or the unscheduled departure of a
carpool or vanpool driver.
SEMCOG is a regional planning partnership of local governmental units
serving 4.8 million people in the seven-county region of Southeast Michigan.
