A Commuter Option Whose Time's Arrived

All you have to do to see how many commuters are going in the same direction as you are every morning is look out the car window. They are jockeying for space on the road the same as you in an effort to get to work on time.

Have you ever wondered how you could get in touch with one or more of those commuters and perhaps find out if their destination is the same as or about the same as yours? That could lead to a ridesharing program that would reduce the amount of traffic and save money on gasoline and vehicle maintenance.

That’s exactly what the Region 2000 Local Government Council is hoping to accomplish with a grant application for a ridesharing program currently operating in the Roanoke and Blacksburg regions. Region 2000, which includes the cities of Lynchburg and Bedford and Amherst, Appomattox, Bedford and Campbell counties, was included in the application for state funding from the Department of Rail and Public Transportation.

Known as RIDE Solutions, the program is an alternative transportation service that offers services such as ride-matching so commuters can plan carpooling with others traveling to the same or nearby locations. The idea is to provide alternative transportation options to work and other destinations, reducing the number of single-occupancy vehicles on the road, according to Kelly Hitchcock, a senior planner at the Local Government Council.

Under grant approval, 80 percent of the program would be paid for by the state, with the balance coming from the localities. The local share would amount to about $13,000, which would be applied to the overall budget of $66,000.

It sounds like a practical program with potential to not only save commuters money, but also to add dollars to the local economy. Part of the program includes a website, which has a carpool-matching service where commuters can enter where they live, where they work and what time they have to be at work. That information can be matched up with others who have similar commutes.

Tyler Godsey, a programs technician with RIDE Solution in Roanoke, said the Internet registry currently has more than 2,700 members in the Roanoke-Blacksburg area. He said that some 10,000 people travel between the Lynchburg and Roanoke areas every day. He said that reducing the number of those travelers by just half a percent by carpooling could create $2.4 million in savings that could be spent elsewhere in the economy. That savings would come from gasoline costs alone.

The transportation service also offers information on other alternate transportation options such as maps for bicycling, bus routes and park and ride locations. Hitchcock said ridesharing program officials also reach out to large employers. “They will really be able to help you find any number of commute options,” she said.

If the state approves the grant application, the program could start July 1.

With the rising cost of gasoline and greater emphasis placed on the importance of good air quality and less wear and tear on the roads, alternative forms of transportation have become more important for commuters these days. RIDE Solutions would be a welcome program providing optional forms of transportation for potentially thousands of commuters in Central Virginia.