Yale Bulletin and Calendar

October 21, 2005|Volume 34, Number 8

Yale offers staff new incentives to car-pool

The University has announced a new program for car-pooling that is designed to provide economic and environmental benefits for the Yale community.

The new initiative is designed to help participants save money in fuel and parking rates, contribute to the improvement of local air quality, reduce traffic congestion in New Haven, decrease demand for parking on campus and provide better commuting options.

"Incentives for car-pooling are the first of many ideas that we're exploring to reduce our reliance on single occupancy vehicles," said Andrew Hamilton, Yale provost, and John Pepper, vice president for finance and administration, in a message announcing the initiative to the faculty and staff.

A Transportation Policy Commitee -- a team of faculty, staff and students -- has been reviewing trends in alternative transportation options as part of Yale's effort to become a sustainable campus. Car-pooling and ride sharing were among the short-term recommendations made by the committee.

"We look forward to engaging with you regarding innovative transportation solutions as they emerge from this committee, including ways to increase the use of mass transportation, encourage walking and biking to campus, and the use of satellite parking lots," said Hamilton and Pepper.

The car-pool program is available to all faculty and staff and has three primary incentives:

Lower parking fees: For two people sharing a car, each will receive a 60% discount. Each participant will pay 40% of his or her regular parking rate. "For example, Jane currently pays $100 to park and Bill currently pays $50. When they register as a Yale car-pool, Jane pays only $40 per month (40% of $100) and Bill pays only $20 (40% of $50)," explained Hamilton and Pepper. For three or more people sharing a car, each will receive a 75% discount. Each participant will pay only 25% of his or her regular parking rate.

A "Guaranteed Ride Home" program for all car-pool registrants: A free taxi ride will be provided for emergency situations such as illness of a family member, unexpected request of a supervisor to work past regular hours, or if the driver of the car-pool has to leave because of an emergency, leaving his or her passengers without a ride home.

Three free parking passes per month for each participant: Each participant will get three free entries to his or her assigned parking lot each month for days when car-pooling is not convenient.

Full details of the program are available by visiting the website at www.yale.edu/parkingandtransit/alternatives or calling the Parking & Transit Office, (203) 432-9790. The website also includes a "bulletin board" to help members of the Yale community find colleagues seeking to car-pool.

For those not able to join a car-pool but who may still want to share rides occasionally or van-pool to work, the website also contains information about a number of mass transportation and ride-sharing options, including Rideworks, a regional, non-profit organization that helps commuters find options that best fit their needs; a state program called Easy Street for vanpools; and NuRide, a web-based company allowing commuters to enter their requirements and find others to share a ride on any given day.

"Given the newness of the car-pooling program and its uncertain impact on our parking system, we will initially open the program to the first 300 to sign up and ask them to help us evaluate and refine it at the end of the current academic year," said Hamilton and Pepper. "The new incentives will also be offered to those already registered as a car-pool with Yale's parking office.

"We hope you will try car-pooling -- if for any reason you are not pleased, you are guaranteed to get your assigned parking space back," they added.

Yale community members are invited to e-mail any questions or comments they have on the program to parkingandtransit@yale.edu or to call the Parking & Transit Office. To learn more about Yale's efforts to become a sustainable campus, visit www.yale.edu/sustainability.

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