The Vanpool Formation Guide was written by Arlington Transportation Partners to help mobility professionals in Arlington County form vanpools. The guide can be used by other jurisdictions, making it a great piece for any TDM professional.

2. Introduction
What is a Vanpool?.................................................................................................................................................................................................. 3
Advantages of Vanpooling........................................................................................................................................................4
Initial Steps
Finding the Right Contacts.......................................................................................................................................................7
Strength in Numbers: Large or Multiple Organizations........................................................................................................7
Determine Benefits...................................................................................................................................................................8
Zip Code Mapping and Potential Riders.................................................................................................................................8
Initial Vanpool Meeting with Primary Contact......................................................................................................................9
Gather Potential Riders
Contact Potential Riders at the Organization(s).................................................................................................................. 11
Reach Out at the Building Level............................................................................................................................................. 12
Find Additional Riders in Local and Regional Ridematching Databases........................................................................... 12
Hold a Conference Call with Potential Vanpool Participants............................................................................................. 12
Vanpool Formation
Vanpool Formation Meetings................................................................................................................................................ 15
Follow Up and Find Additional Riders................................................................................................................................... 16
Benefits and Billing................................................................................................................................................................. 16
Conclusion............................................................................................................................................................................... 17
Additional Information
Association of Commuter Transportation Vanpool Council............................................................................................... 19
Guaranteed Ride Home.......................................................................................................................................................... 19
Vanpool Connect..................................................................................................................................................................... 19
’Pool Rewards.......................................................................................................................................................................... 20
Vanpool Alliance...................................................................................................................................................................... 20
CONTENTS

3. INTRODUCTION

4. 3
Vanpools are one of the most cost-efficient commuting methods, but they require preplanning and cooperation
among a driver, riders, the organizations and van providers looking to put them together.
Forming vanpools requires a long-term time investment and can take up to a few months to come to fruition.
The steps below are not necessarily all-encompassing but give a general overview of how to start the conversation
of how to form a new vanpool.
What is a Vanpool?
Vanpools are like carpools, in that they share a driver and passengers that have commute origins and destinations
in common; however, vanpools accommodate as few as four and up to 15 passengers. Additionally, vanpools are
considered transit by the federal government and vanpool participants can pay for their participation in a vanpool
with a transit benefit. Much like a carpool, a vanpool will have a designated driver or rotating drivers depending on
the group. A vanpool must be a vehicle with at least seven seats and be 50% occupied to qualify for federal transit
subsidies. 50% occupancy in a seven-passenger vehicle is equivalent to four riders.
Passengers in the van do not need to be present for every day of commuting, and have flexibility to telework or
choose other mobility options to get to work throughout the month. Passengers are essentially “reserving” their
seat in the van on a monthly basis with their monthly payment. However, the passenger must be in the van at least
11 days out of the month to qualify for the benefits as defined by the IRS. Passengers who do not ride in the van
every day of the week are still expected to pay their full monthly portion for the van.
Vanpools are most cost effective when they start 15 miles or more from their destination. The pricing for the van
is fixed on a monthly basis, the only fluctuation being the price in gasoline.

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Advantages of Vanpooling for Employees
By working through the process, employees are able to take advantage of a slew of benefits:
• Use of pre-tax or employer subsidized transit benefits to pay for their monthly commute
• Faster commuting by using the high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes
• More affordable travel by avoiding tolls in high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes when three or more people
are present in the vehicle
• Quality of life improvement through reduced stress and relaxation during commute to work
• Less wear and tear on a personal vehicle
• Potential savings on personal auto insurance by changing vehicle use from commuting to personal use only
• Comfortable ride in a newer vehicle — ability to be equipped with WiFi and other comforts
• Environmentally sound choice, a feel-good factor

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INITIAL STEPS

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Finding the Right Contacts
Your primary point of contact, likely someone in human resources or upper management, will be important to the
success of your vanpool program. The person you work with will determine whether or not you can get employee
zip code information to identify ridematching opportunities, contact potential riders via their work emails and use
transit benefits to pay for the vanpool.
Often times, you may find that you will meet additional contacts at a business who may be better to help form
vanpools. For gathering employee information, contacting potential riders and applying transit benefits, your
contacts will likely be:
• Human Resources Assistants/Directors
• Benefits Coordinators
• Office Managers
• A vanpool ambassador employee taking the lead on your van formation
For the vanpool parking, signage and other facility items, you will be working with:
• Facilities Assistants/Managers
• Office Managers
• Parking Management Companies
Strength in Numbers: Large or Multiple Organizations
The population required at businesses to find potential vanpools is usually above 100 employees, and preferably
more than 250. Creating a truly “in-house” vanpool at a single business will often require an organization with
a minimum of 500 employees.
If you have an organization interested in vanpooling, but with too small a population, you can work with vanpool
providers like Enterprise Rideshare to find multiple organizations in the same geographic area.

9. 8
Determine Benefits
Next, discover what benefits the organization offers in terms of transportation. A person is far more likely to join
a vanpool if their business offers a transit subsidy that can help pay for their seat in a van. Some commuters will
go from paying for gas, parking and more on a daily commute to paying nothing due to their benefits. It’s also
important for the vanpool provider to learn about the benefits offered, so they can prepare accurate quotes for
participants so all riders are aware of how much they’ll pay out of pocket.
Zip Code Mapping and Potential Riders
Once you have determined an interested organization, the first step is zip code mapping to determine
opportunities for ridematching. Most vanpool providers will do zip code mapping in-house since it is a crucial tool
in finding potential riders. However, it is possible to do your own zip code mapping by using a custom mapping
software product. You can find multiple options with a simple Google search of “zip code mapping software.”
The process of mapping zip codes is an easy two-step process:
1. Collect zip codes via a survey or ask for the zip codes from your main contact
2. Pass the zip code information to a vanpool provider to map the results (preferred) or map the results yourself
You’ll be using this information in the next section of the process.

10. 9
Initial Vanpool Meeting with Primary Contact
Now that you’ve begun working with an organization and you have zip code maps of employee locations, you need
to have an in-person meeting with your main contact at the organization. The vanpool provider will also be brought
in for this meeting.
In the meeting, the vanpool provider should also be best at explaining the overall vanpool process from start to
finish. They will share the zip code mapping and explain where the largest clusters of potential riders are located.
The clusters of employees are a great conversation starter for the next step of gathering potential vanpool riders.
Feel free to provide any additional information that the organization may find useful.
Lastly, you will need to find out where the vans will be able to park, both at their origin and destination. You also
need to ensure the origin of the van has parking for riders who need to drive to the van initially, such as a Park & Ride.
Usually the facilities department will take care of parking at the worksite, but you may need to provide some
suggestions. It’s important to try and find a way to provide free parking to the vans — as this is a great selling point
and potential savings to participants. Many organizations will see the benefits of providing free vanpool parking
spots in a preferred and highly visible area, since forming a van will often free up six to eight parking spaces per van.
As for parking at the van’s origin, there are hundreds of Park & Ride lots across the DC region. Vans can park
in these lots overnight and over the weekend without worry of towing, and riders can use the lot to park their
personal vehicles before entering the van for their commute. When a Park & Ride is not available, vanpool
providers work with local businesses such as big box retailers to secure parking spots. Many retailers with large
parking lots are completely fine with a van parking in their lot since riders will often visit the store before and after
their commutes.

11. 10
GATHER POTENTIAL RIDERS

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Contact Potential Riders at the Organization(s)
There are numerous ways to begin looking for potential riders. Which path you take depends greatly on your point
of contact at the organization(s). You can realistically do more than one of these to reach as many potential riders
as possible. And remember to make it fun! People will be more interested about exploring the opportunity if there
are elements that incorporate an enjoyable, better way to commute.
1. Reach out to each employee in a specific area in a targeted email
Remember that employee number we mentioned earlier in this guide? The best way to begin forming a van is
to connect with a high volume of potential riders within a particular zip code. Often, employees do not realize
that so many of their fellow coworkers live nearby. Many employees are happy to receive additional information
after learning they can use transit benefits and take advantage of time and money-saving commuter lanes.
You will need to coordinate with a contact with access to employee emails to reach out to the potential riders.
2. Email all staff that vanpools are forming in their location
Send an email to all staff at a particular organization stating that vans are forming for their office location.
This method is less targeted but can still produce results.
3. Hold an onsite event
Set up a time to have a table with information at an employer or building, sharing vanpool information and
gathering potential riders’ information to find matches. This can also take shape as a lunch and learn style event
with some upfront information.
4. Move straight to vanpool formation meetings
Sometimes you will have enough people in various locations that you can simply schedule vanpool formation
meetings at the organization(s). Email staff in either a blanket email stating what locations will have vans
forming or directly email the possible riders. Coordinate time slots for interested riders to meet with you
and the vanpool provider to have questions answered and to provide additional information.

13. 12
Reach Out at the Building Level
Sometimes an organization will not have enough matches or a group may need another rider or two to qualify
as a vanpool. One way to tackle this is to work at the property level to access all tenants within a given building.
Building level zip code maps can turn a pool of 50 potential riders into a pool of 500+, increasing chances for
successful van formation and operation.
Find Additional Riders in Local and Regional Ridematching Databases
Sometimes you won’t find all of your riders within one organization. Your next step is to have the vanpool provider
check their internal databases for additional matches, as well as search the regional ridematching lists. Often,
one or two additional people can be found this way.
Hold a Conference Call with Potential Vanpool Participants
You will eventually get to a point where you have a group of people who are interested, but concerned.
It’s best to hold a conference call with the initial group to find out their preferences, working hours or other
questions/concerns. It’s also helpful to figure out who the main vanpool leader will be as they will handle all
the initial paperwork and billing.

15. 14
VANPOOL FORMATION

16. 15
Vanpool Formation Meetings
Now that you have a group of riders that qualify, hold formation meetings with riders who are ready to start vans
as soon as possible. You can coordinate with the organization to set up specific time slots for each proposed van
route. The vanpool provider will be present at these meetings to explain the vanpooling process to all of the riders.
The key aspects of the formation meetings are:
• Determine riders’ working hours
• Find out if riders have flexible hours or are willing and able to change them so they can be aligned
• Share how transportation benefits can be applied to pay for the van through SmartBenefits and
CommuterDirect
• Provide monthly quotes for the costs of different van model types and amenities
• Determine how many of the attendees are likely to move forward with the van
• Gather contact information to continue following up after the meeting
• Explain the day-to-day use such as free parking at commuter lots, monthly maintenance and gasoline purchases

17. 16
Follow Up and Find Additional Riders
Now that the group has met, this is generally the home stretch for a van starting. Most people will be sold on
commuting by vanpool at this point, and it’s simply a matter of paperwork.
The vanpool provider will work with the group to determine a lead for the van. The lead will take care of the
paperwork and be the main contact for the vanpool provider.
Some vans will be interested in adding more riders to lower the share of their monthly cost. For example,
a van that costs $1,000 per month split four ways comes out to $250 per rider per month. Adding just two riders
to the aforementioned van would lower the monthly cost by $83 per rider to only $167 per month, per rider.
If the riders in a van outgrow their rented vehicle’s space, the vanpool provider can easily provide larger options
for a slight increase in monthly costs or determine if there is enough opportunity to create an additional van.
Benefits and Billing
The remaining step after getting your group together is making sure the organizations you work with know how
to handle payroll benefits to pay for the van. The vanpool provider will often work directly with human resources
to link up payroll systems/SmartBenefits so that the money is automatically sent to the vanpool provider. In order
to connect participants’ vanpool payments with the employer’s SmartBenefits account, vanpool participants must
also set up an account with CommuterDirect at 703.228.RIDE.
All monthly billing is handled by the vanpool provider; at this point your job is essentially done. Follow up with your
contacts to make sure everything is finalized and offer to help in the future if issues arise.

18. Conclusion
Vanpools take some time to form and a decent amount of cooperation between the providers and riders, which
means keeping the van running past its initial formation is crucial. Vans will eventually run into riders changing
jobs, moving to new locations or changing their working hours. It’s important to follow up with both the
organization and the vanpool provider to see if additional assistance is needed to backfill open seats.
Six months is a good time frame for a follow up so you do not inundate the vans with questions. The time frame still
allows you to gather valuable information to assist with any needs to make sure the van continues operation.

19. 18
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

20. 19
Association of Commuter Transportation Vanpool Council
The Association of Commuter Transportation’s (ACT) Vanpool Council specializes in the execution of vanpool
programs and services nationwide. The members have a plethora of knowledge on vanpool programs,
transportation benefits as they pertain to vanpooling and public policy related information. The Vanpool Council
members range from private-sector to public-sector positions at vanpool providers, transit agencies, private
employers and planning organizations.
Guaranteed Ride Home
All vanpool participants are able to apply for the free Commuter Connections Guaranteed Ride Home program.
The program offers vanpool riders up to four free rides home per year, in case of an emergency. Emergencies
include sickness, unscheduled overtime and many other scenarios. You can read more by visiting
ArlingtonTransportationPartners.com/GRH
Vanpool Connect
Arlington County Commuter Services’ Arlington Transportation Partners program incentivizes vans with $50 per
month, per rider, for the first six months of a new vanpool. They also provide the incentive to new riders in existing
vanpools if they were previously not in a vanpool. You can read more about the Vanpool Connect program here:
ArlingtonTransportationPartners.com/VanpoolConnect

21. ’Pool Rewards
Vans traveling from certain areas in the DC region may qualify for the ’Pool Rewards subsidy. The program
requires that a van be newly-forming, have at least seven commuters and participants must not have been
commuting via vanpool, carpool, transit, bicycling or walking in excess of four days in the month prior to submitting
their application. You can learn more by visiting
http://bit.ly/PoolRewards
Vanpool Alliance
Vanpool Alliance offers $200 per month to qualifying vanpools if they agree to provide basic reporting and meet
a few requirements. Your van must be a seven to 15 passenger-seat van and travel from, to or within a specific
area. If utilizing Enterprise Rideshare as your vanpool provider, this discount will be accounted for in the monthly
fee of the van. More information can be found by visiting
http://bit.ly/VanpoolAlliance