Vanpools (vehicles carrying 7-15 passengers, including the volunteer driver) provide an affordable transportation alternative for employees with a lengthy commute between home and work. Vanpools can be organized through a transit agency, employer, transportation management association, a group of employees, or other sponsoring organization.
Integrating Vanpools into Transit Services
This on-line, self-paced training leads transit agencies in considering the benefits of offering vanpooling services alongside their other transit services, as well as first steps in doing so. Resources are included with the training for additional learning.
Module 2: Vanpooling in Transit Agencies Today
Module 3: Benefits to Incorporating Vanpools into a Transit Agency's Services
Module 4: Steps to Implementing a Vanpool Program
Profiles of Vanpool Programs
- Wave Transit (Wilmington, N.C.) Vanpool Program (YouTube)
- Coast Transit (Gulfport, Miss.) Vanpool Program (YouTube)
- The Case of Tennessee Vans: A Social Business Model to Develop and Finance Community Mobility Resources. Van-based program that initially used public funds purchase vans and is now self-sustaining. The vans are either then sold at affordable prices and terms to human service agencies and other groups providing transportation for their service population or used in vanpools. Revenue from both these programs is then recycled into purchasing additional vehicles for purchase by other agencies or as replacements for vanpool vehicles.
- Vanpools: A Viable Option in Rural Regions. Profiles long-standing vanpool program operated by Ben Franklin Transit and how the program has grown as area commuting needs have evolved.
- Vanpools for Agricultural Worker Transportation. Reviews the development of the Agricultural Industries Transportation Services in Kings County, Calif.
Resources
- NTD Tool for Vanpool Services. Guidance from the National Center for Transit Research to assist urban transit agencies in meeting the reporting requirements for the National Transit Database (NTD). Provides spreadsheet template to facilitate providers meeting reporting requirements.
- Vanpooling: A Handbook to Help You Set Up A Program at Your Company(1993). Old but good resource from the National Transportation Research Library designed to help California employers set up a vanpooling program.
- Vanpool Guidebook. Developed by the Denver Regional Council of Governments, the handbook addresses needs of vanpool drivers and passengers, and provides an overview of the program for potential participants.
- Transportation to Work: A Toolkit for the Business Community. Provides useful information on ridesharing and vanpooling