RideShare Delaware is

DART First State The Delaware Transit Corporation, operating as DART First State, is the only public transportation system that operates throughout the U.S. state of Delaware. DART First State provides local and inter-county bus service throughout the state and al ...

's program to reduce traffic and encourage alternative transportation arrangements. The program is supported by state and federal funds as a part of Delaware's efforts to maintain

air quality Air pollution is the contamination of air due to the presence of substances in the atmosphere that are harmful to the health of humans and other living beings, or cause damage to the climate or to materials. There are many different types ...

. RideShare works in partnership with local and regional agencies towards meeting Federal Air Quality Standards. It helps form both carpools and vanpools. It also offers special programs for students and Delaware employers.

History

RideShare Delaware was established in 1997 by the

Delaware Department of Transportation The Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) is an agency of the U.S. state of Delaware. The Secretary of Transportation is Nicole Majeski. The agency was established in 1917 and has its headquarters in Dover. The department's responsibil ...

. Beginning in 2005, RideShare Delaware participates in a joint cross-promotion with Delaware E-ZPass to encourage commuters to both carpool as well as use

E-ZPass E-ZPass is an electronic toll collection system used on toll roads, toll bridges, and toll tunnels in the Eastern United States, Midwestern United States, and Southern United States. The E-ZPass Interagency Group (IAG) consists of member agencie ...

transponders to reduce the lines at toll plazas. In 2007,

Parsons Brinckerhoff WSP USA, formerly WSP, Parsons Brinckerhoff and Parsons Brinckerhoff, is a multinational engineering and design firm with approximately 14,000 employees. WSP stands for Williams Sale Partnership. The firm operates in the fields of strategic con ...

, a transportation consulting firm, was hired to administer the program. It is now managed by

URS Corporation URS Corporation (formerly United Research Services) was an engineering, design, and construction firm and a U.S. federal government contractor. Headquartered in San Francisco, California, URS was a full-service, global organization with office ...

Commuter programs

Real-time RideMatching

Since its founding RideShare Delaware has provided a forum to match people with similar commuting patterns in order to form car pools. Since March 2011, RideShare Delaware has offered an interactive commute tracking

database In computing, a database is an organized collection of data stored and accessed electronically. Small databases can be stored on a file system, while large databases are hosted on computer clusters or cloud storage. The design of databases sp ...

to identify potential carpool partners. Its website pairs up carpool partners, logs and tracks clean commutes, and provides transit information. The RideMatching system provides emission tracking software to calculate and report

carbon dioxide emission Greenhouse gas emissions from human activities strengthen the greenhouse effect, contributing to climate change. Most is carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels: coal, oil, and natural gas. The largest emitters include coal in China and larg ...

as well as mileage, fuel and cost reduction for carpoolers, transit riders, vanpoolers, bicyclists and people who walk to work. This information shows commuters how their clean commute reduces the cost of their trip to the office, and also quantify how they are positively impacting the region's air quality by sharing the ride. In April 2009, RideShare Delaware's enrollment reached 15,000 commuters.

Guaranteed Ride Home program

All registered commuters in the RideShare Delaware database(regardless of whether they ride transit, carpool,

vanpool Vanpools or Vanpooling is an element of the transit system that allow groups of people to share the ride similar to a carpool, but on a larger scale with concurrent savings in fuel and vehicle operating costs and thus usually a lower cost to the ...

, walk or bike) are eligible for the Guaranteed Ride Home (GRH) program. If an emergency arises on a day that a commuter shares the ride to work that prevents the commuter from taking his normal ride home, RideShare Delaware will reimburse the commuter for any necessary taxi or rental car services. This free benefit is limited to five uses per calendar year per registered user.

School Pool

The School Pool program is a free, voluntary program that assists parents by identifying other parents who want to share in the duties of driving their children to and from school. It serves individuals who travel to Delaware schools, even if the user lives in Pennsylvania, Maryland, or New Jersey.

Vanpool Assistance

Delaware RideShare facilitates

commuting. Vanpools serve preformed groups of 7 to 15 passengers. Delaware RideShare identifies potential vanpool participants who share a commuter pattern. If they form a vanpool, the cost of the vanpool will be determined by the number of commuters in the van, distance traveled and total gas costs. Commuters using a vanpool could benefit from employer-offered transit benefits. Offered as an employer subsidy, pre-tax option or combination, employees are entitled to up to $230 a month towards the cost of riding the train, bus or vanpool if offered by their employer. As a result of the

Base Realignment and Closure Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) is a process by a United States federal government commission to increase United States Department of Defense efficiency by coordinating the realignment and closure of military installations following the end o ...

Commission process, approximately 8,000 new employees are being reassigned to the

Aberdeen Proving Ground Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG) (sometimes erroneously called Aberdeen Proving ''Grounds'') is a U.S. Army facility located adjacent to Aberdeen, Harford County, Maryland, United States. More than 7,500 civilians and 5,000 military personnel work at ...

, and Delaware RideShare assists employees relocating to or living in Delaware with establishing a vanpool commute to Aberdeen. Delaware RideShare encourages State of Delaware employees to participate in the Fleet Link State Vanpool program. State employees who vanpool are eligible for emergency ride home trips only through the State Vanpool program. Any group of four or more Delaware employees can start a vanpool by renting a state-owned van for a flat monthly fee that includes gas, tolls and periodic maintenance.

Bicycle commuting

Delaware RideShare promotes

bicycle commuting Bicycle commuting is the use of a bicycle to travel from home to a place of work or study — in contrast to the use of a bicycle for sport, recreation or touring. Commuting especially lends itself to areas with relatively flat terrain and ar ...

by producing maps of bicycle commuting route. DART First State also offers bicycle racks on the front of many of its buses for commuters who do not want to bike the entire length of a commute. In addition, bicycle commuters are also eligible for the GRH program.

Employer services

RideShare Delaware provides services to employers in

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

including consultations, employee surveys, employer referrals, marketing and outreach, density maps, worksite events, online ridematching, vanpool formation and support, relocation assistance, and commute incentives. Delaware RideShare helps implement the credit against Delaware corporate income taxes that are available for employers offering approved carpooling plans.

References

{{Vehicle rental brands Carsharing Road transportation in Delaware