MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- Increasing numbers of Camp Pendleton Marines and sailors who live off base are hitching a ride to work and letting government agencies foot the bill for their commuting costs.
According to Michelle Porter of San Diego RideLink, the county government agency that administers the program, 24 vanpools are now commuting to and from base each day ? up from 18 in December of last year.
Those numbers include four new pools started this month ? three of them serving the Southwest Riverside County bedroom communities, including Temecula and Murrietta.
Sgt. Anthony W. Rodriguez, the audit chief for the Marine Corps Nonappropriated Fund Audit Service here, says several civilian enterprises are offering vanpools so service members can share rides to and from work.
Rodriguez, who founded a vanpool for Temecula and Murietta area residents, says a vehicle rental company supplied him with a new eight-passenger van when he started his group.
The price of the van is about $1,000 per month. But Rodriguez and his fellow vanpoolers aren't picking up the tab.
Two subsidies ? one federal, the other local ? defray the cost. The federal program, the Transportation Incentive Program, gives federal employees up to $100 in travel vouchers to pay for public transportation. The subsidy applies not only to vanpools, but to any form of public transportation.
But for vanpoolers, the subsidies don't stop there.
According to Allison Richards-Evensen, the senior marketing representative for the San Diego Association of Governments, San Diego's RideLink program offers regional commuter vanpools for $400 a month to offset the cost.
For a vanpool of six members, the subsidies cover the entire cost of the van.
"If the van costs $1,000 to rent for a month, you can have $600 being paid by the federal government and $400 being paid by the County of San Diego. Your van would basically be free at that point," Rodriguez said. "The only thing the drivers would really have to pay for is the gasoline."
Chief Warrant Officer 2 John F. Plansky, Brig Company's executive officer, also rides in a vanpool daily from the Temecula-Murrietta area. He said the money a vanpooler spends on gas is paltry when compared to how much he or she would spend powering a personal vehicle. He said his vanpool treasurer calculated the savings at $150 a month.
Savings isn't the only benefit of riding in a vanpool, Rodriguez said.
"One of the pros of having a vanpool is you don't have to necessarily drive every day. You can actually relax or get caught up on work," Rodriguez said.
Staff Sgt. Luis A. Delacruz, administrative chief for the commanding general's staff here, explained why he joined a vanpool.
"I wanted to relax before and after work. The van that we have is very comfortable; it's a brand new van. You have almost 30-40 minutes to relax," said Delacruz, who also lives in Temecula.
Rodriguez said the vanpools are not only relaxing ? they're reliable.
"Included in your fees are all of your oil changes and all of your maintenance. If you have a flat tire, they'll send a truck out there to repair the vehicle right away. If they can't repair it, they'll bring you another vehicle," Rodriguez said.
Participants are required to ride the van 11 times per month, Rodriguez said.
There's also a subsidized alternative for vanpoolers who occasionally miss their van.
Three times a year, San Diego County offers vanpool participants yet another method of getting to or from work by providing vouchers.
The vouchers, part of the "Guaranteed Ride Home" program, are good for a taxi ride or, for trips of more than 20 miles, a rental car.
Of Pendleton's 24 vanpools, two-thirds serve Southwest Riverside County, Porter said. A handful serve San Diego County, including South Bay and East County. Two serve Orange County, she said.
For more information regarding vanpools, call Rodriguez at 725-9066 or Michelle Porter at San Diego's RideLink program, at (858) 695-3825, ext. 101.