Anchorage Share-A-Ride helps base workers save fuel costs

  • Published
  • By Luke Waack
  • JBER PAO
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska --  Many service members and civilians working on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson can use a local municipality program to keep miles off privately owned vehicles as well as save money on gasoline.

Anchorage Share-A-Ride is a division of People Mover within the Municipality of Anchorage's Public Transportation Department, according to Paula Kangis, Share-A-Ride manager.

"People Mover has been providing fixed bus service since 1974; carpooling was added in the late 1970s and vanpooling in 1995," Kangis said. "We maintain a database of commuters interested in carpooling or vanpooling and create matchlists for people traveling to work the same way and time."

The city of Anchorage started the Share-A-Ride program when officials saw the need for carpool matching services in the late 1970s, Kangis said. Vanpooling was added in 1995 to help relieve the traffic congestion along the Glenn Highway.

"Now, approximately 30 percent of the Wasilla workforce commute to Anchorage," Kangis said.

Commuters within the Anchorage and Mat-Su Borough areas, which includes Big Lake, Palmer, Wasilla, Eagle River, Chugiak, Anchorage and Girdwood are eligible to ride a van and federal employees, including service members, can receive vouchers to cut the cost of the service.

"I have taken advantage of the Share-A-Ride program since its inception," said Debra Davis, an Air Force civilian who works on JBER and has ridden on a Share-A-Ride van since 1996. "I love the savings I enjoy by riding the van, it is like a huge pay raise. I easily save over $10, 000 a year by riding our van."

Each van is equipped with individual overhead reading lights, individually controlled heat and air vents and high back reclining seats.

Transit Tax benefits enable employers to provide low-cost or even no-cost benefits to employees, Kangis said.

Currently, the average cost for vanpoolers without Transit Tax benefits (traveling 100 miles roundtrip daily) is approximately $130 to $140 per month.

With the Transit Tax benefit JBER service members and civilian employees are eligible for, the cost drops to zero, Kangis said.

All fuel, operating, maintenance and insurance costs are paid for JBER riders.

As of March 11, 1,028 people were commuting in 55 vans. Of those, 24 transport JBER service members and civilian employees.

Pick up and drop off points vary, but most vans traveling to JBER locations with Soldiers, Airmen and civilians start the day at park and ride lots or retail stores in the Valley.

Parking at retail establishments requires advance authorization from the retailer's management, Kangis said. Commuters interested in vanpooling must first register online at http://ShareARide.muni.org or by calling 562-7665.

Using work hours and home and work addresses, Share-A-Ride managers run a check to see if any existing vanpools match an applicant's information.

"If not, we'll encourage you to start a new vanpool, which requires at least eight riders for the 13-passenger van," Kangis said. "This number includes on primary driver and two alternate drivers."

The program has a plenty of room for new commuters.

"Share-A-Ride has more than a dozen new vans ready for new groups," Kangis said. "With recent program changes, there's never been a better time to start vanpooling.

Through Try-A-Ride, commuters can try vanpooling up to three times before committing. Commuters experiencing a qualified emergency now have an Emergency Ride Home."
It's easy to figure out how much vanpooling can save a person, Kangis said.

"We encourage people to use our driving cost calculator at http://webapps1.muni.org/peoplemover/drivingcost.cfm to see how much money they could be saving over the cost of driving alone," Kangis said. "Additional benefits include arriving to work relaxed without the stress of driving, reducing wear and tear on personal vehicle, its flexibility and reduction of one's carbon footprint."