Vanpooling Subsidies On Rise In Bay Area, MTC Says

SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA, CA — Local transit officials are touting a new subsidy program for
vanpooling, a form of carpooling where commuters can rent vans and split the cost. The Metropolitan Transportation Commission started offering subsidies for vanpooling in November of 2018.

Commuters can get a total of up to $350 per month off of a van rental from Enterprise, the company chosen by the MTC to host the program. For a seven-person vanpool, the savings would be around $50 per person per month.

The MTC gave out money to 71 different vanpools in November, and the next month it offered the subsidy to 88 vanpools, according to a news release. That's an increase of 23 percent, month to month.

Officials say around 500 vanpools are up and running in the Bay Area, and they hope that that number will increase to 800 in the next few years.

"More and more people are needing to commute farther given the Bay Area housing market, so vanpooling is becoming a good choice for more commuters," the MTC's Vanpool Program Manager Megan Nangle said in the news release.

Vanpoolers who want to apply for subsidies can do so at Commutewithenterprise.com. Commuters who would like to start or join a vanpool can get more information at 511.org/carpool-vanpool/.

By Bay City News Service

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