Vanpools
An innovative solution for workforce transportation.
The Issue:
Many employees in the region struggle with long commute times, congested highways, or unreliable transportation. Similarly, employers have to wrestle with these realities in their recruitment and retention of talent.
Vanpools as a Solution:
Vanpooling offers a unique solution to these challenges. Employees who live within the same general area meet at a pre-determined location (or are picked up) and hop on board a rented consumer vehicle, such as a minivan or mid-full size SUV (7 seat minimum). With one of their own colleagues as the appointed driver, employees travel together to and from work.
For employees, they get safe and reliable transportation in a modern vehicle. For employers, they can rest assured that employees who have complex transportation issues have a secure, predictable, and safe ride to and from work. For the approved driver, they also get personal use of the vehicle as an added bonus.
What It Costs:
Costs are typically monthly per vehicle (vanpool), and are can be underwritten a variety of ways.
Employer covers 100% of costs.
Employer covers a portion of costs, employee covers remaining.
Community organizations provide subsidies that help lower the cost, with remaining costs being shared with employers and employees.
Maintenance / Insurance / Liability / Fuel:
The vehicle used is rented technically to the individual employee (approved driver). This separates the company/employer from liability related to off-site incidents.
Being a rental vehicle, all maintenance and insurance is covered as part of the agreement.
Fuel is a variable cost that can either be handled by the employer through stipends to employees, fuel cards with set amounts provided to employees, or left for the employee(s) to cover on their own.
UMA’s Role
The Upstate Mobility Alliance recognizes the immense need for workforce transportation solutions in the region - whether it’s bus route expansions or vanpooling, UMA aims to support increased mobility for employees.
Partnership: UMA has partnered with Commute with Enterprise, one of the national leading providers of vanpool services, to help Upstate employers learn more about vanpooling and launch their own programs. We also help connect community organizations to bolster support, including financial support, for vanpools in the area - from nonprofits to transit authorities to local governments.
Financial Support: UMA also offers a limited subsidy to help alleviate the costs per month for up to five (5) vanpools in the region. These strategic subsidies help new programs launch in new areas of the Upstate. Learn more about the subsidy here.
Regional Impact: Increased vanpooling efforts in the Upstate have a few key impacts that drive UMA’s involvement:
Employees get to/from work. This is vital for our region’s economy, let alone individual families.
Vanpools are public transportation. By all federal regulation standards, vanpooling can be included in a public transportation agency’s service offerings - and can even be the only service. Transit authorities can use the miles traveled and “trips saved” as part of the federal data used to provide public transportation funding. In many instances, vanpooling’s data outweighs any costs associated with it, creating a viable and sustainable revenue stream. Vanpooling is a great way to start conversations about public transportation in communities, particularly in more rural settings, as it is employer-driven and meets immediate needs with little to no overhead.
If you are an employer, chamber of commerce, community nonprofit, or local government and want to learn more about vanpooling, please reach out to us.
While UMA does not offer direct vanpool services, we do connect interested groups to providers and experts. From time to time, UMA offers pilot funds for target regions of the Upstate.