FORT BELVOIR, Va. (June7) -- Fort Belvoir tenant employees expressed concerns about the cost associated with Northern Virginia Regional Commission's "Real-time Ridesharing" pilot program during a focus group in May.
According to Juanita Green, Fort Belvoir Garrison transportation demand management coordinator, the nine Office of the Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Army employees who took part, feared that volunteers would shy away from participating in the pilot program because of a requirement for riders to pay drivers.
USDOT hosted the focus group to learn how Belvoir employees view traditional slugging and to gauge interest in the "Real-Time Ridesharing" program.
Green said the participants had slugging experience prior to the focus group and said the commuting method works well.
The group suggested conducting the "Real-Time Ridesharing" program without a payment transaction to provide more incentive for volunteers.
"I think the majority of the participants don't feel it's going to work because you're paying that person and why should you? Because today when you slug it's free," said Green, who observed the focus group and then spoke with the participants afterwards.
The program, "Real-time Ridesharing," is a six-month initiative designed to match Department of Defense employees commuting along the Interstate 95/395 and U.S. Route 1 corridors with fellow employees taking similar paths to work by using a mobile phone app.
Real-time Ridesharing is similar to traditional slugging where drivers offer a free seat in their vehicles to commuters in order to ride the High Occupancy Vehicle lane.
A key difference is the proposed pilot program provides drivers with $25 in gas per month while riders receive five free trips and then pay drivers, for every additional trip, $1 per pick-up and 20 cents per mile for the first ten miles and 10 cents a mile after.
According to Peggy Tadej, Base Realignment and Closure Act coordinator for the NVRC, another key difference is that slugging relies heavily on HOV lanes, which provide drivers incentives to offer free rides.
Tadej believes the pilot program could help commuters traveling to Belvoir and other employment locations that don't have HOV lanes near their property. One of the nearest highways with a HOV lane near Belvoir is Interstate 95 which nearest exit is Springfield Va., about 10 miles away from post.
Avego, a global provider of passenger transportation software, is partnering with the NVRC by providing a mobile app for the program, called WeGoMil. The app uses GPS, time and other features to make ideal commuting pairings.
Avego officials believe the app is an efficient means to share a ride, as commuters can use their phone to arrange a specific time to meet a driver traveling in the same direction.
Tadej said the structure of the program provides more security for volunteers, as the focus group expressed concerns about traveling in a car with someone not part of the program. Tadej reassured them that each driver and rider will be assigned a pin number for identification purposes.
"It might take the fear out riding with someone you don't know," Tadej said.
Despite cost concerns, Tadej said some focus group members expressed interest in participating in the programs beta testing phase that will begin July 9 for Fort Belvoir employees. NVRC is searching for 20 riders and 10 drivers to volunteer.
The testing will allow NVRC to improve the program before large scale testing starts in September 2012.
The $600,000 program, which is targeting seven DoD locations, is being funded by a $447,200 grant from the Federal Highway Administration and $91,000 from the Virginia Department of Transportation. Alexandria, Arlington and Fairfax counties are providing $50,000 in outreach support.
Of the seven locations the project focuses on, three are connected to Belvoir: the Fort Belvoir Main post; the Fort Belvoir North Area, where the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency is located; and the Mark Center.
The NVRC is recruiting at least 1,000 riders and 500 drivers to participate in the pilot in September. To sign up go to www.WeGoMil.com.
For more information call Peggy Tadej at (703) 642-4635.
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