GRANITE CITY, IL, February 28, 2008 . . . RideFinders today announced a new, reduced fare structure for participants in the St. Louis regional vanpool program.
Effective immediately, existing and new vanpoolers who commute to work over 80 miles round trip daily will enjoy savings ranging from $20 to over $400 per vanpool group per month,
depending on the total length of their commute.
A RideFinders vanpool is a group of 7-15 commuters who team up to share the ride to work in a RideFinders van for a monthly fare. One of the vanpoolers agrees to take on the primary
driver’s responsibilities and gets to commute for free, while the riders each pay an equal part of the monthly fare to cover operating costs, with one or more riders serving as back
up drivers as needed.
The lower vanpool fares come as a result of RideFinders’ operator Madison County Transit (MCT) moving the program’s vanpool operations in house. MCT has applied over 20 years of
expertise in providing multi-modal transportation services to streamline the operations of the vanpool program, creating greater cost efficiencies and related savings that are being
passed along to the vanpoolers.
“We’ve recently added two new vanpools to the program, in part because the new rate structure makes commuting in one of our vanpools an unbeatable value,” notes Joe Wright, director of
RideFinders. “The new fares also are being particularly well received by our smaller, existing vanpool groups with longer commutes, as they are seeing significant per-person savings.”
For example, Wright cites a 10-rider vanpool with a 110-mile round trip commute that reduced its fare from $750 to $600 per month, resulting in a total savings of $150 per month or
$15 monthly savings per rider. The primary driver of this vanpool, longtime vanpooler, J.R. Kyle, believes the rate decrease reaffirms RideFinder’s dedication to those taking part
in the rideshare program.
“Again, RideFinders has demonstrated their commitment to vanpoolers,” said Kyle. “At a time when gas prices continue to climb upward, vanpoolers can take comfort in the fact that
their transportation costs continue to move lower.”
In addition to the reduced fares, vanpoolers further improve their quality of life by switching to a relaxing ride instead of a stressful drive; saving $3,500 annually in gas and
other commuting costs; and receiving a free $10 gas card to try vanpooling for 30 days, as well as up to 6 free taxi rides home a year to continue vanpooling. Vanpoolers also improve
the quality of life for the entire region by reducing traffic congestion and air pollution.
"Since joining Ridefinders, I've not only been able to save money on gas, but I've been able to actually sit back and relax on my ride into work every day,” said David Wells, who
helped organize one of the new vanpools that originates in Litchfield, Ill. and picks up commuters in Troy, Maryville, Edwardsville and Glen Carbon before arriving at work in the
City of St. Louis. “I'd recommend Ridefinders to anyone wanting to save money and say good-bye to their stressful commute."
RideFinders currently has over 850 vanpoolers who share the ride in 85 RideFinders vans and additional vans are available for the new low monthly fares. Commuters interested in
joining or forming a RideFinders vanpool, or carpooling with other commuters in their personal vehicles, can access RideFinders free ridematching service at
www.ridefinders.org or (800) 847-7433.
RideFinders was created in 1994 to improve the quality of life and work in the St. Louis by providing a free ridematching service to help over 7,500 commuters carpool or
vanpool to work, and by partnering with over 1,300 employers to provide free ridesharing information and incentives to commuters at work. RideFinders is operated as a free
public service by Madison County Transit for commuters who work in St. Louis City and St. Louis, St. Charles, Jefferson and Franklin Counties in Missouri; and Madison, St. Clair
and Monroe Counties in Illinois through federal grant funding from the United States Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration. For more information,
visit www.ridefinders.org or call (800) VIP-RIDE.
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