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Sample Service: Vanpool

A vanpool is a group of 7-15 people who commute to work together in a van [46]. The typical vanpool will have one regular driver who is charged with maintaining the vehicle and riders who share the commute costs. Vanpools have been touted by both employees and employees for easing commute stress and reducing parking demand. A vanpool program also allows employers to have increased access to job market. The Rideshare Company in Connecticut currently operates the Easy Street® vanpooling program, which has a number of vanpools between Rhode Island and Connecticut. There are currently no intrastate vanpools under Express Travel, RI's transportation demand management program. However, demand for this service is growing [47].

Costs/Benefits Analysis

The cost of a vanpool varies depending on lease or purchase option, mileage, size of vehicle, and employer subsidy. Typically, rider fares will recoup most, if not all, of the capital and operating costs associated with the service (including insurance and maintenance). Administration and marketing costs are generally not covered. Because vanpool costs are split among riders, the fare per rider increase when the number of riders in the vanpool decrease. Additionaly, employers may decide to subsidize the costs of vanpools to attract/access additional labor markets. They may also subsidize vanpool in lieu of employer-subsidized parking.

There are various benefits to having a coordinated vanpool program between multiple Providence employers. For one, there will be a larger market pool for vanpool riders. The larger the market, the more likely there will be vanpool matches and riders. Subsequently, vanpool riders will benefit because the increased number of riders will drive down fares and they will also save in taxes and travel expenses (see below). Employers will also receive financial savings since administration, marketing, and subidy costs are divided, and the costs are tax exempt.

There are several types of vanpool service. Vanpool services can be suburb-city, city-city, city-suburb, or suburb-suburb. For reducing congestion and parking demand in Providence, the most appropriate vanpool services are suburb-city and city-city. Below is a model of how much a vanpool program would cost if the program was contracted out to a private operator.

The model* assumes that:

• there is a fleet of 50 vanpool vans
• vehicles are the same size (15-passenger vans)
• the average commute mile for each van is 25 miles/day
• employers will subsidize vanpool (instead of parking) at $40/person per month

*Adapted from Vanpool Pricing and Financing Guide

Thus, the costs spread across each of the 50 vehicles is $1,212 per month. To recoup the costs, the fare would be priced as such:

From this model, we can estimate the benefits for a vanpool rider. Take Joe for instance. Assume that Joe:

• Is single,
• Lives in Coventry,
• Drives 20 miles alone to his work in Providence Place Mall
• Parking at work is $75/month,
• Owns a 2001 car.

The table below shows that by joining the 8 person vanpool (from the model above), Joe would save up to $519 a year or more.

Summary

In summary, a vanpool program can have the following benefits:

• Reduced parking demand
• Employee commute trips reduction
• Increased access to employee markets
• Reduced travel stress
• Employee commute savings
• Employer payroll tax savings
• Increased employee morale/productivity

The benefits to having a coordinated vanpool program (established under a TMA) are:

• Larger pool of potential riders (enabling more ride matches)
• Lower costs of operations per employer