Van poolers say they don't guzzle as much gas

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman David K. Flaherty
  • 452d AMW/Public Affairs
MARCH AIR RESERVE BASE, CALIF. --  Elaine Plein, a protocol specialist on base, commutes about 50 miles a day to and from work - the equivalent of driving to Denver every month. With gas prices in California averaging $4.57 a gallon, you would imagine Plein breaks the bank every time she fills up at the pump. She should be paying around $400 a month on gas, she says, but she doesn't. 

Plein takes the Vanpool to work. And on that ride, the cost of admission is only $25 a week. 

"I really save a lot of money just on gas alone," said Plein. "Plus the wear and tear - I don't have to get the oil changed every month and I don't put as many miles on my vehicle." 

There are 66 federal employees on base who are part of a van pool. They all take advantage of a government program that grants $115 a month to federal employees who ride to work in a van with six or more people. After the cost of the van rental and gas is tallied, the riders pay the difference. The cost depends on the distance to work and amount of people in the pool. Some members pay as much as $100 a month. For others, it's free. 

"When I first started out in 2005, I was paying $50 a month," said Lt. Col. Kris Kraiger, the chief of operation plans at the 452nd Operation Support Squadron. "Now I don't pay anything." 

From San Diego to Los Angeles; from San Bernadino to Temecula; members of the van pool program commute from all over southern California, said Kraiger. For people who live out of the local area, joining a van pool is more than just avoiding a big gas bill - it also means they don't have to sit behind the wheel every morning battling traffic. 

"Our furthest guy who rides the van lives over one hundred miles away," said Paul Pitman, a Civil Engineering Program manager who runs the base van pool program. "It's really a win-win situation for everyone who commutes long distances to work." 

Pitman said joining a van pool at March is easy. Right now there are van pools in Victorville, San Bernardino, Redlands, Los Angeles, Orange County, Temecula, and San Diego. Pitman said that, if necessary, new van pools could be started for locations beyond these areas.