Archive for the ‘Rideshare’ Category

You’ve probably seen Metro Vanpools in your town or in Bellevue, but do you know what they are? Years back a lady in my neighborhood parked a Metro Vanpool at her house. I assumed she was a Metro employee and drove the van around. Now I know better. In fact, I even drive a Metro Vanpool! Anyone can start a vanpool. You need at least 5 people to start. It works best if you all live and work in a common place. The group is free to designate pick up and drop off points as well as start and leave times.

I have been driving my van for a year and 3 months. In all honesty, the van was rather challenging to start because I couldn’t find enough riders. It took me 3 months to get the van on the road. .Eventually I was able to find all of the riders for my van at www.rideshareonline.com. My advice: don’t give up when starting your vanpool. Eventually you will find enough riders!

Here is a question for you: What is stopping you from being in a vanpool? Do you not have enough information on how it works? Are you scared of the commitment? I’d love to hear what you have to say.

In my next post I’ll try to address some of your concerns.

-Melissa

Climate change. Everyone’s talking about it. But what are we doing about? An article from The Christian Science Monitor about this topic recently caught our eye. It states that “discussion of climate change has been high on domestic and international agendas, but the sad truth is that little has been done to fight it”. So how do we kick our butts in gear to reduce our country’s carbon footprint? Is a recession the only proven condition to get people off the road, subsequently cutting emissions? According to the article’s author, Robert Dujarric, the climate debate must be refocused. The environmental arguments empower some to make change, but not the masses. Instead, Dujarric says to appeal to patriotism. What? American patriotism = lower carbon emissions? Here’s his argument:

Given the location of the world’s petroleum reserves, when Americans pull out their credit cards at the gas pump, they indirectly fund the economies of countries like Iran, Venezuela, Libya, Sudan, and not to mention Al Qaeda (whose financial backers include many who are in the fossil fuels business). Even if the oil sold in the US comes from Alaska, Texas or allies like Norway, American demand drives up the price of the commodity, thereby pumping huge flows of dollars into the treasuries of its enemies. If Americans start thinking about their dependence on oil as equivalent to providing assistance to our enemies, more citizens would be open to looking for and practicing alternatives.

Dujarric doesn’t believe we should throw out the environmental arguments altogether. He instead believes supporting them with a new patriotic message might do the trick to cutting down our oil consumption. What motivates and inspires you to decrease your carbon footprint? Is it saving endangered species and improving air quality or is it protecting US borders? Let us know your thoughts about the climate change debate by submitting a comment below. Also, be sure to calculate your own carbon footprint on our carbon emissions calculator. You may be surprised at what you find!

-Jordan

Fall Wheel Options is back! Join thousands of others across the state who choose not to drive alone to work at least twice during Wheel Options, October 18-31. Log your commutes at www.WheelOptions.org and you could win the trip to Italy with a Rick Steves Best of Rome 7 Day Tour! Eligible wheel options include carpooling and vanpooling, riding the bus or train, bicycling or walking to work, working from home or simply not commuting because of your compressed work week schedule. There are many fantastic prizes, including weekend getaways and your favorite merchant gift cards. All participants will receive a two-for-one coupon courtesy of Amtrak Cascades. What have you got to lose?

-Melissa

King County Metro is giving you old school prices for a new school commute! Start a new 7-passenger King County Metro vanpool and pay just 40 bucks a month per person for the first two months. Gas, insurance and maintenance are all included. Promotion is limited to the first 36 groups who start by December 31, 2009.

Call 206-625-4500 to get started in a vanpool today!

For more information on King County Metro’s vanpool program visit http://metro.kingcounty.gov/commutervans or email vanpool.information@kingcounty.gov.

Find carpool and vanpool matches online at www.rideshareonline.com.