Holiday greens and giving gifts might be so last month, but just because the holiday season is over doesn't mean people can't give the gift of reduced emissions to planet earth.
To help combat air pollution, the federal government has come up with programs to encourage its employees to utilize mass transit to come to work, said Baker McNair, U.S. Army Garrison mass transportation Benefit Program manager.
The program, which is regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency, was designed to help combat air pollution, especially in large cities, by providing funds to cover costs incurred through utilizing mass transit, McNair said.
One of the more popular forms of mass transit is vanpooling, McNair said, with approximately 400 to 450 people at Fort McPherson and Fort Gillem using the service.
One of the major companies partnering with Fort McPherson and Fort Gillem, as well as the DoD, to facilitate vanpooling is VPSI, Inc., which began working with the installations in January 2003, said Vicki Cody, VPSI outreach coordinator. Data compiled by VPSI shows the partnership has been very effective in helping meet the end goal of the program, said Cody. A reduction of nearly 1 million tons of carbon dioxide over the past three years was measured.
Additionally, more than 30,000 tons of carbon monoxide were prevented from release into the atmosphere.
The earth isn't the only thing benefiting from vanpooling. In using the service, people can also give themselves a present.
"It saves dollars," McNair said. "Once your insurance company finds you vanpool, you can save up to 25 percent on car insurance."
The discount comes from reduced mileage driven, which has the added benefit of adding life to one's car. By vanpooling, Lee Sasser, management service specialist, USAG Directorate of Resource Management office, said she saves more than 10,000 miles on her car annually.
Sasser, who has been vanpooling since 2002, said the program is a real benefit in multiple ways for many people by cutting down on the wear and tear on personal vehicles and avoiding gas prices. Her van pool, which runs out of Tyrone, is comprised of 11 people, with eight to 10 riders each day.
"We travel 44 miles a day, about 20 days a month, so we save 880 miles on our cars monthly," she said. An even bigger savings is money. Vanpooling costs absolutely nothing, being fully funded through the federal government via money allocated to the Mass Transit Benefit Program, McNair said.
Since the early part of 2009, federal transit benefits increased to $230 per person per month for anyone using an alternative commute mode, said Wendy Wishard, VPSI project manager.
"As a result of this increase, many vanpoolers are able to commute to and from work for free," she said. "Not to mention the peace of mind that comes with a comprehensive maintenance program and no more stress over the cost of vehicle maintenance, as it is included in the program."
Money is allocated to organizations based on surveys and applications, McNair said. Numbers are gathered and sent up to the executive branch to determine the amount of funds each federal agency needs.
Fort McPherson and Fort Gillem receive their voucher money through funds distributed to the DoD. Each month, participants enrolled in the program receive a voucher to cover the cost of the program.
These vouchers cover the cost of the van rental, gas for the van and incidental expenses, such as taking the van to a car wash, Sasser said. Major repairs are completed by the van company renting the vehicle.
While taxes are a hot issue in the news these days, many might feel the program is a waste of tax dollars, especially for those who do not use the service. Baker disagreed, stating the benefits extend to the community in ways both obvious and subtle. "It helps the environment and decreases the demand for energy (gas), so the price of energy decreases," she said.
Wishard added there are many societal benefits to vanpooling. "The benefit easiest to quantify is the reduction in traffic congestion, therefore lessening the demand placed on already strained infrastructures," she said. "With vanpools creating fewer vehicle emissions, the result is better air quality."
Even if one doesn't care about the environment, reducing pollution in Atlanta or saving money, vanpooling has other perks. "Our employer customers often share with us that their employees who utilize vanpools appear to be calmer after not having to fight their way to the office in the morning, since vanpools get to use the high occupancy vehicle lanes," Wishard said. "The vanpoolers arrive at work on time and ready to get to work."
"You can go to sleep, read, talk and meet other people," Sasser added. McNair said such socialization isn't limited to time going to and from work, stating some vanpool groups get together for holidays and other special events. One can even fantasize that vanpooling makes them special.
"Think of it as a big limo. You have another person picking you up and driving you to work, giving you a chance to relax," McNair said. As for those afraid that vanpooling may prevent them from going home should an emergency arise, McNair said there are safeguards built into the program. Several companies may send a rental car, taxi or reimburse such costs.
"There are alternatives for some emergencies," McNair said. "It is understood by the companies (that rent vans)."
In the Atlanta metro area, Cody said the Atlanta Regional Commission manages the Guaranteed Ride Home Program.
"Individuals participating in an alternative commute mode (transit or vanpooling) are eligible for up to five free rides home each calendar year for days when they or their Family are ill or for unscheduled overtime," she said.
Vanpoolers must re-register each year for this free program, she added. Currently, there are 36 vanpools making trips onto the installations, McNair said. About another 1,100 use other aspects of the mass transportation program, such as city buses and the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority rail system. Fort McPherson and Fort Gillem are just two of the more than 75 military installations with functioning vanpools, Cody said. "Everybody should do it," Sasser said.
"The money saved on commute costs, the money saved on the car they are no longer commuting in and (the) sense of Family they share with their fellow vanpool participants are the reward vanpoolers feel for doing their part to contribute to a greener environment," said Cody.
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