Thousands Save Time and Money Through Ride Sharing

Driving to work every morning from his home in Middletown, Md. used to wear out Gary Madonna. But once the 45-year-old Scientific Review Administrator at the National Institutes of Health began ride sharing two years ago, that suddenly changed. My stress level went way down," Madonna said. "I could even catch a little shut eye. Not to mention knocking off $20 to $30 bucks a month from my gas bill."

There are inconveniences to be sure. Accidents and storms have thrown off Madonna’s rendezvous time with ride sharing partner, Darryl Gwinn. And there is always the possibility that one of the two men might be forced to work late. "There have been occasions when I’ve had to call Darryl and say, ‘look, I’m going to e an extra 15 minutes. Or I’m running 30 minutes behind.’ But it really hasn’t amounted to anything more than that. Overall, it works out very well. Once you’re in a carpool you never want to go back."

Madonna is among the growing number of metropolitan commuters who have experienced the advantages of Montgomery Country’s unique public-private ride sharing program, the goal of which is to educe single occupant vehicle rise in congested areas during peak travel times.

Established in the early ‘80s as a result of restrictions requiring builders to reduce or alleviate traffic congestion that could stem from their proposed projects, the non-profit program offers personalized car and vanpool matching services s well as information about MARC, VRE, Montgomery Country Ride-On and METRO.

Three large and several small private ride sharing organizations are currently in operation. Among the larger ones is the Montrose and Executive Community Service Center with more than 4,7000 registered applicants since its inception. Another 4,500 commuters from Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and DC have applied for information and assistance for the Rock Spring Park Commuter Center. About 11,500 commuters have registered for information through the White Flint Community Service Center.

"In addition to ride string matching services, bus and subway transportation information, and the emergency Ride Home Program, we have provided vanpool and transit subsidies to encourage alternatives to the single occupant vehicle," according to program director Susan Hallman. "The NIH, for example, recently expanded its use of the White Flint shuttle bus, and is participating in a transit discount program that allows its commuters to save $42 a month on public transit," Hallman said. But savings realized when individual commuters don’t rely exclusively on their own vehicles can be much more significant.

Free Cash

Madonna may be seriously underestimating the amount of commuting dollars he saves by ride sharing (Triple A says that a four-cylinder vehicle traveling 1,250 miles per month will, on average — taking into account insurance, oil, gas, etc. — cost its owner about $431.25 monthly). By Hallman’s calculations, traveling by vanpool from Frederick County to Rockville 52 weeks a year with driving shared by three person adds up to 24,000 miles. If 15 commuters each operated their own vehicle, total travel distance would amount to 560,000 miles per year, she said.