Vanpool Boot Camp: Marching Orders - November 7, 2011 - Part 2
What’s going on in the world of vanpool research? Best practices around the country and MWCOG Vanpool Survey
Anecdotal information from the calls w/counterparts
Owner Operated – make up the majority of the vans coming out of Spotsylvania, Stafford and Prince William. Individuals who personally own the vans they drive and carry six to fourteen additional riders with them on their way to work. Employer Sponsored – Vans owned by a company, used to help employees get to work more easily. Perhaps picking them up at conveniently located commuter lots and metro stations. Third Party – vans that an owner/operator would lease from a third party provider such as VPSI, Enterprise, ABS or YJE.
Diana currently has 392 vanpools in Spotsylvania and Prince William County has 130. Our two regions, along with NVTC have been working on a vanpool subsidy initiative, that would allow us to garner 5307 funds for the region, by reporting vanpool data via the National Transit Database, to the Department of Transportation. The contractor we are working with, estimates that the DC region has a minimum of 800 vanpools in operation today. So, I took a slide from one of Diana’s presentations, and was able to basically double her figures, to get an accurate representation for some regional vanpool statistics.
This slide breaks things down at the per van level, both 7 and 15 passenger. I’ll just point out the CO2 reductions since that didn’t appear on the previous slide, those being 58 and 136 tons respectively for 7 and 15 passenger vans annually.
Large vanpool programs in: LA County (Metropolitan Transit Authority) – 327 Houston MTA – 545 King County Transit – 826 Salt Lake City Utah, Utah Transit Authority – 452 Chicago, Pace – 677 Hartford Connecticut, The Rideshare Company – 302 Majority of these are public/private partnerships. Public Agencies working with private vanpool leasing providers (VPSI/Enterprise) to provide vans and services, and working with third party contractors to manage the programs. In some instances the company providing the vans also manages the program.
Frederick, Anne Arundel and Howard Counties are where most of the Maryland vans originate. DC is the largest destination for Virginia and Maryland vans The most popular Virginia destinations are Arlington, Fairfax and Alexandria and the most popular Maryland destinations are Montgomery, Prince Georges and St. Mary’s counties
Finding and maintaining riders is a constant challenge even in a stable economy. Our current less than stable economy means folks are losing jobs, changing jobs and working more hours, all of which means vanpool ridership is less than stable too. Vanpool riders themselves can be the best recruitment tool. They talk to friends and co-workers, and often times are the ones who help to fill vanpool vacancies. Bulletin boards, the electronic and the old fashioned kind that hang in office lobbies and kitches, as well as in churches and community centers are also helpful, as are all the Rideshare Specialists in this room, who help at a jurisdictional level to find riders to keep vanpools on the road. Slugging has really evolved in the region and although it is largely seen as positive, there is no doubt, that it has effected the number of vanpool rider prospects. Especially in counties such as Spotsylvania and Prince William, where thousands of people slug to and from work every day. The topic of the Transit Benefit is an hour long presentation in itself, and I speak from personal experience, since I sat through two very interesting hour long presentations by Jason Pavluchuk at the recent ACT Conference in Chicago. Diana and I had the opportunity to host several vanpool focus groups over the course of the vanpool subsidy project we’ve been working on, and the vanpool owners told us that the majority of their riders receive the transit benefit which is currently set at $230.00 per month, which in most cases completely covers the cost of their commute. The liklihood of the transit benefit remaining at $230.00 per month seems very uncertain. If Congress does nothing, the transit benefit will revert to $125.00 per month. If Congress takes action, they can either extend the $230.00 a month benefit or eliminate it all together. It is too soon to know what the effects of any of these potential changes would have on vanpooling.
The potential for vanpool growth in the region is significant Significant population growth is projected for Spotsylvania, Stafford and Prince William Counties. I only had access to data close to home, but I know significant population growth is projected for our entire region, due to our proximity to DC and the relatively stable job market we have here. BRAC relocations around our region definitely contributed to the creation of many new vanpools. Al Miller from NGA and Jack Carlile From the FDA have both started well over 20 vanpools respectively. HOT lane expansion to Garrisonville Road in Stafford County should increase the number of vanpools substantially