U-PASS Profiles

Vanpooling: Profile

(originally published in the Spring 2001 U-Commute News)

Melinda Young, Health & Safety Coordinator, Primate Research Center & Cindy Weist, Records Coordinator, UW Police

Vanpooling is an excellent commute choice for students, staff or faculty who live ten or more miles away. The U-PASS is worth $40 of the monthly vanpool fare, while the remaining amount, if any is dependent on distance traveled, the size of the van and the number of passengers. In the Winter U-PASS News we asked you to tell us about sharing the ride.

Melinda Young has worked at the UW for 12 years and throughout this time she has consistently used a commute alternative. "When I first started at the UW I took the bus, but while taking a class one summer I was doing a lot of driving because the bus didn't meet my schedule. I decided to try vanpooling." stated Melinda, who is responsible for the vanpool's bookkeeping, rides in an eight-passenger van, which is owned, maintained and insured by Community Transit. The UW also has 14 vanpools on contract with Metro Transit for over 30 vans between the two agencies. Melinda finds the time savings and the savings in parking costs her main reasons for using a vanpool.

Vanpool employees get to work faster using the HOV lanes and once they're on campus they can eliminate a search for parking as there is no restriction on where vanpools may park except for disabled spots. Plus vanpool parking is free-a savings of over $450 annually.

Melinda begins her commute at 6:20 am from her home where the vanpool meets her to drive to the Marysville Park & Ride to pick up the other riders. There are no assigned seats, however over the years Melinda has found it, "funny to watch people run from the Park & Ride to get the front seat." After making stops at Northgate and main campus, their van arrives at South Campus at 7:20. Although the van holds eight passengers most everyone in the van has flexible schedules providing each person an opportunity to ride when they want and need allowing for a total of nine passengers to be signed up.

On days Melinda needs to drive, she uses her U-PASS to purchase discounted Individual Commuter Tickets. Or, if she stays late, she rides in with the vanpool in the morning and takes the bus back in the evening. For Melinda, "being in a vanpool has changed my attitude about how I get here on days I need to drive. I sometimes carpool with another vanpool member and we receive a free one-day carpool permit."

There are many reasons why people join a vanpool. Possibly it's the price of parking, but Cindy Weist's introduction to vanpooling was through unforeseen circumstances. When she left her wallet and U-PASS at home she found herself stranded on campus. After contacting Parking Services, she was referred to the Marysville vanpool. For the last six months Cindy has not only saved on parking costs, but also wear and tear on her car, " I don't have to worry about where I park. Vanpooling takes all the worry of driving out of the equation." When she committed to riding in the vanpool full-time she changed her schedule, "My department is pretty hip on alternative transportation. When I asked for an adjustment in my schedule, I didn't have a problem." Her time on the van is productively spent reading, enjoying the scenery and thinking. She comments that each member's personality is important to the dynamics of the vanpool. The vanpool is a small community of employees who wouldn't necessarily have an opportunity to meet on campus. "We have our own politics. The UW has its politics. My vanpool provides a way to learn from one another and share what is going on at the UW."