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Environment

San Diego Agency Wants You To Rideshare

By Ed Joyce / Reporter
Published October 5, 2011 at 11:05 AM PDT
This story was published more than 13 years ago.
Sharing a ride can help reduce freeway congestion in San Diego.
Ed Joyce
Sharing a ride can help reduce freeway congestion in San Diego.

Commuter Challenge Geared To Reduce Freeway Congestion

Editor's Note: KPBS Reporter Ed Joyce interviewed Dan Martin, manager of the San Diego Association of Governments' (SANDAG) iCommute Rideshare challenge program.

San Diego Agency Wants You To Rideshare
Throughout October solo drivers in San Diego County have lots of incentives to try commuting alternatives, including carpooling, vanpooling, biking and using using public transit.

Dan Martin: Rideshare Week has actually been going on for a number of years but to actually do a corporate challenge and a commuter challenge, that's a recent idea that we thought of to get some awareness to the program and also get people thinking about it. We know a lot of corporations take that as a big responsibility on how folks get to and from work and from an environmental sense they have a responsibility and they recognize that.

Ed Joyce: So this is the first time for this Rideshare corporate challenge; how many companies and agencies are participating and how many people does that add up to be?

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Dan Martin: We've got 38 companies and agencies involved and they represent more than 78,000 people, so that's a pretty good stretch for the San Diego region.

Ed Joyce: There's a number of companies and organizations that have van-pools in San Diego. Has the use of vanpools increased over the years and does SANDAG support that in some way monetarily?

Dan Martin: The answer to both of those questions is yes. We've seen continued growth in our vanpool program. Right now we have more than 760 vans carrying more 6,000 people each and every workday. SANDAG supports our van-pool program by providing a $400 a month subsidy for each van enrolled in the program.

Ed Joyce: This sounds like a great win-win for everybody: the vanpools, the commuter challenge, a chance to win some money, cut down on traffic and maybe save some money on gas too?

Dan Martin: Absolutely. If you can imagine taking those 6,000 folks off the road that maybe otherwise commuting by themselves is a great boon for our city, it helps to relieve some congestion and save people money, too.

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Prize drawings will be held daily during Rideshare Week and every Friday throughout October. Prizes include two electric bikes, gift certificates to Suki Day Spa, monthly transit passes, and entertainment gift cards.

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Environment Regional GovernmentsEnergy
Ed Joyce
Ed Joyce was the environment reporter and afternoon news anchor for KPBS-FM. Before joining KPBS, he worked as an editor/columnist with Copley News Service in San Diego. Ed has an extensive background in newspaper, radio, web and TV journalism. After graduating with a B.A. in Communications from the University of Washington in Seattle, Ed began a career in broadcast journalism. His work has included stints in public broadcasting, commercial broadcasting and education -- working as an affiliate professor of communication and reporter at the University of Idaho and Washington State University in Pullman, Wash. During the past 20 years he has worked in radio, TV and print as a news reporter, anchor, writer, editor and producer. Along the way he has won numerous awards for general news reporting, newswriting, feature and issue reporting and breaking news reporting from The Associated Press, The Society of Professional Journalists, San Diego Press Club and other organizations. During the mid-1990s, while working for Oregon Public Broadcasting, he was a frequent contributor to National Public Radio, including a feature report on the memorial service for 14 U.S. Forest Service "hotshots" who died fighting a wildfire in Colorado (the crew was based in a central Oregon town). He’s also filed reports with Marketplace, KQED’s California Report and Climate Watch and with national and regional networks throughout the United States. At KPBS, Ed continues his contributions to National Public Radio and other national and regional news organizations. He has won awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and San Diego Press Club for his environmental reporting at KPBS-FM-TV and for producing and anchoring radio newscasts. In 2007 he was selected a National Press Foundation fellow for Understanding Violent Weather II program. The seminars were held at the National Weather Center in Norman, Okla. In 2008 he spoke at a UC San Diego conference on U.S. National Security as part of the school’s Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation. Ed led a discussion with the 18 foreign government officials and academics about the political debate over climate change. In 2010, Ed was elected to a three-year term on the board of the San Diego Press Club.
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