FORT BRAGG, N.C. - As Fort Bragg's population continues to grow, community members are seeing a significant increase in the amount of traffic that flows through the post's gates each day. As a means of minimizing future traffic headaches, Fort Bragg's leadership now offers an alternative -- vanpools.

The vanpools, which are part of the U.S. Army Mass Transit Benefit Program, minimize the amount of traffic that rolls through the post's access control points daily and they provide a valuable benefit to the ecological system.

The MTBP's intent is to reduce federal employees' contribution to traffic congestion and air pollution and to expand their commuting alternatives by using mass transportation, according to information taken from the Army's MTBP policy letter, dated April 1, 2011.

While the program is fairly new to the Fort Bragg community, the post's newest residents -- employees at the U.S Army Forces Command used a similar service at their previous location at Fort McPherson, Ga.

According to Shaune Griffin, the post's vanpool coordinator, the program was brought to Fort Bragg by FORSCOM and he said it was readily welcomed.

"It came to us as a FORSCOM initiative by virtue of them coming to us, via the Base Closure and Realignment Committee recommendations, and being used to having the service down a Fort McPherson before leaving.

"Vanpooling has been around for years, it's just unfortunate that Fort Bragg hadn't actually taken advantage of some of the benefits that come along with it until most recently when FORSCOM raised the issue about having the program available to those folks coming up from Fort McPherson," he added.

Griffin said once FORSCOM brought up the suggestion, Col. Stephen J. Sicinski, the Fort Bragg Garrison commander decided that the transportation office would take on the responsibility of starting the program and making it available to the entire community.

Griffin said they were unsure of the type of reception the program would receive until Sicinski expressed his excitement about the level of participation in the program.

"He was extremely ecstatic about the participation," Griffin said. "So much so that he gave me marching orders to get with these other commands that were still dragging their feet about taking advantage of the program and allowing their Soldiers and civilians to benefit from it."

Griffin said his instructions were to go out to those commands and re-brief them about the benefits of the vanpool program. He explained that this was done as most commands had already received an initial briefing about the program, but it was all paper and data.

"Now that they can actually see vans on the installation and see people using the service, the sales pitch becomes a lot more tangible to those commands. It's something they can see," he said.

The vanpool program was initiated by the garrison in April. Three months later, the program had grown so much that Griffin said he went from processing 15 vanpool vouchers, which is basically enough for 15 passengers to ride in one van, to more than 100 participants and it continues to increase.

Griffin pointed out that while most are from FORSCOM and the U.S. Army Reserves Command, there are some from the medical command and a few from other units.

He attributes that growth to FORSCOM and USARC being familiar with the program and the benefits it provides.

"They didn't come to listen to spiels, they came with the mindset of, 'hey, I'm moving to Sanford, North Carolina and I want to make sure that the vanpool program is operational because there are enough of us out here that we need to put a van on the street.' They knew that this was something that they were going to use regardless," Griffin explained.

He said because the new residents from Atlanta had expectations of a vanpool program, Fort Bragg entire community has been able to benefit from it.

Griffin said he has received more interest in the program as points of contact from different directorates within the Soldier Support Center have approached him about receiving information about the program.

Griffin said the benefits are huge for directorates that choose to participate in the program. Some of the benefits include, minimizing the amount of vehicles on the road; minimizing the cost of fuel to and from Fort Bragg each day; cutting down on the emissions as fewer vehicles pass through the gate and it allows the individuals to relax and enjoy the ride to and from work.

"The program gives the organization the opportunity to relieve a certain amount of vehicles off the road," Griffin said. "With FORSCOM and USARC coming to Fort Bragg, we're beginning to look like a small Atlanta as far as traffic is concerned. So when you start talking about taking 13 or 14 vehicles off the streets, in the long run, it builds dividends for the installation."

The vanpooling concept is not new, but as gas prices continue to rise, other installations have begun to take advantage of the service, Griffin noted.

In a recent story provide by Installation Management Command Public Affairs Office, commuters at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio have reaped the benefits of the program.

"All I can say is this is the best thing since sliced bread -- nope it's better than sliced bread. Love it!" said Debbie Martin, an IMCOM Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation programs employee and vanpool passenger at Fort Sam Houston. "It's less wear and tear on us, less wear and tear on our wallets and less wear and tear on the environment."

According to the IMCOM article, the MTBP originated in April 2000, via Executive Order 13150, Federal Workforce Transportation. The order requires federal agencies to provide employee incentives to use public transportation in their commute to and from work.

Currently, the Fort Bragg vanpool program features numerous pick-up and drop off points and routes that run from nearby areas, such as Raeford, Southern Pines and Hope Mills to as far away as the Raleigh-Fuquay-Varina area.

Two nationally recognized companies provide vanpool services in Fort Bragg, Vanpool Services, Incorporated, more commonly known as VPSI and RideShare.

Griffin said the beauty of the program is that regardless of where commuters live, if there are enough people who are commuting from that area, they can figure out a centralized location that commuters can meet to take advantage of the vanpool program.

He said the program's future outlook includes using the vanpool program and coordinating with the Transportation Division to incorporate the post's shuttle van program to create a system of mass transit for the Fort Bragg community.

Griffin said this type of system would ensure that regardless of which command a commuter was assigned to, he would be able to catch the vanpool, arrive at any command, or a centralized hub and then take a post shuttle van to his place of duty.

Currently, the vans travel from their designated pick-up point to the location of the sponsoring command, he said.

For more information on Fort Bragg's military vanpools, visit the website: www.militaryvanpool.com/Fort_Bragg.html.