By Tom Fulks San Luis Obispo Regional Rideshare Program (reprinted from TMA Clearinghouse Quarterly - CUTR Volume 3 No. 1 Winter 1994)
Most companies or individuals would have reservations about loaning their passenger vehicles for local transit use. But when upkeep of the vehicles is offered in exchange, in addition to other perks, it becomes an enticing deal. It is an exchange program that is working wonders in San Luis Obispo, California, making the cooperative fleet management program run by the RideOn TMA in San Luis Obispo, California an exemplary commuter cooperative.
The program works this way: In exchange for using a TMA member's single vehicle or fleet of vehicles to provide transit service within the community, the TMA provides fuel, maintenance, and insurance on the vehicles. The TMA also provides drivers and dispatching services to the community. Members who "lend" their vehicles receive 25 cents for every mile their vehicle is driven. This provides the member organization with revenue to replace vehicles or pay for transportation subsidies for its employees.
Using this program, the Ride-On TMA, a private, non-profit corporation, has built a fleet of 35 passenger The idea originally came from the Ride-On Consolidated Transportation Service Agency (CTSA), a consortium of approximately 25 private care givers whose clients include seniors and people with disabilities. Each agency was transporting passengers to many of the same locations, often transporting only a few riders in large-capacity vehicles. When the agencies consolidated their services, vans were fuller, expenses were lower, and routes became more efficient. The CTSA is so successful that it has not applied for the state transit funds for which it eligible.
The Ride-On TMA was established to take this concept to other groups in the community, including the employment sector, government agencies, and even regional programs such as the local air district and regional ridesharing agency. Although the TMA has not been in operation long enough to test whether expenses and costs are balancing out, it is already operating more vehicles and transporting more passengers than the financially self-supported CTSA.
The TMA and the San Luis Obispo Regional Rideshare Program work together closely on the program. It is the job of the TMA to recruit vehicles to put on the road. The San Luis Obispo Regional vans, two buses, and a double-decker trolley for use in providing Rideshare Program handles ride matching and coordination. This community transit. avoids duplication between the two agencies. With no mandatory trip reduction regulations or commute options rules in San Luis Obispo County, Ride-On TMA's success with this program proves that the program has broad appeal and is easily marketable.
San Luis Obispo County, with a population of approximately 210,000, is the only coastal county in California south of San Francisco that meets all federal air quality standards; thus, all TDM programs in the county are voluntary and market driven. The primary incentives for employers to join the TMA are added employee benefits, added services for customers, improved quality of life and maintenance of a healthy environment. The program's appeal also is bolstered by the fact that it is inexpensive and easy to maintain and requires no government subsidies to operate.
For information, contact Tom Fulks, Program Manager, San Luis Obispo Regional Rideshare Program, 1150 Osos Street, Suite 206, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401, (805) 541-CARS, or Mark Shaffer, Director, Ride-On TMA, 1160 Marsh Street, Suite 105, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401, (805) 541-8747.
A zip code analysis of patient billings indicated that 40 percent of drive-alone vehicle trips within the San Luis Obispo city limits were made by patients living with in those city limits. In response, the Ride-On TMA established a patient shuttle program for the French Hospital Medical Center in San Luis Obispo to pick up and deliver patients from homes, offices, or schools within the city. This freed hundreds of parking spaces for use by patients from outlying areas.
Fees are kept low by spreading costs among the hospital, individual doctors' offices, and riders. If a rider is a TMA member or is employed by a TMA member, there is a discount. There are further discounts if the rider is traveling to a TMA member doctor's office. Vehicles used to operate the 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekday shuttle come from the vanpool fleet of Cal Poly State University. Before the program, the 10 University vans sat unused eight hours each day. Now, they provide trips for patients at the hospital during the off peak hours. Cal Poly makes 25 cents per mile on each van, which in turn is used to pay for subsidized seats in the vanpools.
The TMA maintains, fuels, and insures Cal Poly's vehicles and provides drivers for some of the vanpools. In return, vanpool fare revenue goes to the TMA. Two weeks after this program was implemented, Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center, also in San Luis Obispo, arranged with the TMA to offer the same service to its patients.