Dan Murphy, The Examiner
2008-07-13 07:00:00.0
Current rank: Not ranked

BALTIMORE -

With prices at the gas pumps continuing to skyrocket, most commuters are turning to alternative ways to travel. One convenient and affordable option that often goes overlooked is vanpooling.

Vanpooling became popular during the United States’ last major energy crisis in the 1970s, and it has seen a revival in the past six months. The country’s largest vanpooling organization — VPSI Inc. — reported a 48 percent increase in applicants this May compared with last year. Paul Volden, VPSI’s marketing coordinator in the D.C. area, said interest in vanpooling has almost doubled in this region from April to May, and he expects to see similar leaps when the June numbers are made available.

“They just can’t keep enough vans on the road right now,” said Sheron Baldwin, a Baltimore resident who has been driving her colleagues to their office in Washington for the past 25 years. She cited several reasons for vanpooling but said that mostly it was the unreliable public transportation and hectic commute that first convinced her to give it a try.

Drivers typically lease their vans from third-party providers for two to three years. Baldwin said the MTA Rideshare program pays up to 90 percent of the operating costs that she encounters — a number that includes everything from major maintenance to the car wash. The passengers pay a monthly fee of $175, which gets them door-to-door daily transportation and covers gas fees. There are also programs set up through the federal government and other local governments that subsidize a good deal of that price.

Baldwin said that her typical passengers pay $60 a month out of their own pockets — which nowadays might not even fill up the tank for a lone commuter.

Being a driver comes with another set of perks for many of the lessees.

“I get to use the van on weekends and nights whenever I want,” Baldwin said. “I’ve definitely taken advantage of that. I’ve been to Virginia and Pennsylvania in this van.”

Vanpooling also is environmentally friendly. “An average car puts out 300 pounds of pollutants each year,” Volden said. “With 13 people in a van, that number gets reduced dramatically. We definitely take those things into consideration as well.”

daniel.murphy@baltimoreexaminer.com

Get Started

To start your own vanpool, or to look for existing vanpools in your area visit www.vanride.com or call 703-921-0601