What if you had an effortless commute? So effortless that you were dropped off right at your office each day? Think of the things that you would be missing out on: hunting for spaces in parking structures, long solo commutes to work, and paying for parking or paying for your gas. This is what vanpoolers get – red carpet, front-door-drop-off service. And they don’t have to drive (unless they want to.)
Why Rideshare?
Alice Cheesman works for the University of Michigan Health System’s Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation office. Alice lives in Tecumseh and was faced with a dilemma – her car was getting old, she didn’t want to buy a new car and yet she had to drive 30 miles each way to get to work. To save money and to keep her much-loved car for a little longer, she decided to try vanpooling. She also mentioned a commitment to commuting sustainably. “I don’t want to leave too many footprints,” she said. “And it saves gas and parking spaces.”

Alice and her MichiVan
Mark Benedict from the University of Michigan Health System’s Risk Management office said that it was gas prices that led him to try vanpooling. “My initial reason was to share gas costs, but found a lot of other benefits as well. A big one was also sharing driving responsibility. My vanpool’s commute averages an hour to an hour and a half one way everyday.”
Alice said that the only requirement for University of Michigan vanpoolers is that you have to do it for four out of the five days a week – you can definitely drive to work if you have plans after work or a doctor’s appointment during the day. She said, “The benefits overpower the inconvenience.”
Mark said that, “When gas prices hit over $3.50 per gallon, I was paying well over $400 a month just in driving to work.”
What Vanpooling is Like
When Alice mentioned her preconception of vanpooling it was, “that you’re stuck. That you can’t drive at all. One of the riders [in her vanpool] was hesitant to start – he didn’t want to give up the independence of his parking permit up. But it ended up that vanpooling was much better than he thought. You can come and go as you please.”
Mark said that, “The first thing is creating basic rules for the group to agree to and understanding the need to be flexible as much as possible to the needs of the group. As a result, we agree to meet and leave at approximately 5:30 am. Then it’s a matter of the different personality types in the van. The quiet people keep to themselves while the more loquacious people keep the driver entertained for the 1.5 hour drive. Frequently, people end up becoming closer as discussions arise about either work or family life.”
Alice would know: she’s the vanpool driver, meaning she picks up the other vanpool riders, she warms up the van on cold mornings and she’s the last one to get home. She admits that the vanpool takes an extra ½ hour of her time but she says, “it helps to have others in the van.” The other riders get to sleep, read or chat on their ride into work. Alice said of her other vanpoolers: “They trust me, which makes me feel good.”
Vanpooling, Carpooling and…Bike pooling?
Jennifer Schneider, Account Coordinator for MichiVan, explained that, “University of Michigan pays for the vanpools, they charge full-time UM employees $25 a month to ride in the vanpool, except the driver, and then the entire group splits the gas costs up.”
There are a minimum number of people required to get a vanpool started, for a University of Michigan vanpool its 6 riders including the driver, for a non-University of Michigan vanpool its 5 including the driver. If a person that is not affiliated with the University of Michigan wants to join a UM vanpool, the monthly fee would start at $85, depending on how far away they live. A parking pass for a structure downtown costs $130 a month. Using this calculator, driving alone for a 50 mile commute could cost $200 a month. Vanpooling, by comparison, is a fraction of that total $330 cost.
In addition to Michivan, MIRideshare is a service that pairs vanpoolers and carpoolers together. If MichiVan doesn’t have a route that will work with your schedule, see if MIRideshare has any commuters that you could pair up with to create a carpool. It’s a free service and isn’t just reserved for carpoolers. They now have a bikepool option as well! If you commute via bike, you can be matched with other bike commuters to create your own bikepool.
Guarnateed Ride Home
MichiVan and MIRideshare both offer an emergency ride home service for commuters that vanpool, carpool and bikepool to work. The service pays for your cab ride home in the instance of a personal or family illness, unscheduled overtime, or maintenance issues with your bike. It can be used up to six times per year, and participants must be enrolled to benefit from this feature. Mark called it, “an amazing feature,” so click here for more information on this great benefit.
If you’re interested in joining a vanpool, would like to talk to current vanpoolers or have questions about how vanpooling or carpooling could work for you, contact us at 214-0100.