The Northern Virginia Regional Commission is managing a new carpool program that will pay drivers along the Interstate 95/395 corridor to Fort Belvoir, Quantico Marine Corps base, Mark Center and Arlington Hall.
Called real-time ride sharing, the program allows participants to find rides using a smartphone app that was developed by Avego.
"We're pretty excited about it," said Peggy Tadej, BRAC coordinator for the NVRC.
Tadej said about 1,000 riders and 500 drivers will be recruited to participate in a six-month pilot program, to be preceded by a three-month project ramp-up required to engage local stakeholders, riders and drivers. The program will provide drivers with $25 in gas per month.
The $600,000 program 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 $29,000 in advertising and support.
Referring to changes in traffic caused by the move of Defense Department employees under the base realignment and closure program, Fairfax County Supervisor Jeffrey McKay, who chairs the NVRC's BRAC committee, said, "BRAC is here now, and we can't sit on our hands or the equivalent of a parking lot for the three to five years it'll take to put any road improvements in place. This ride-sharing project will provide immediate congestion relief by taking BRAC traffic off the road."
Under the new program, riders would be allowed to ride five times for free. After that, they would pay drivers $1 per pick-up and then 20 cents per mile.
"Avego has a system that allows you to share a ride with a different person every day," said Jason Conley, the firm's chief of government relations.
"The … program in Prince William, southern Fairfax and Stafford counties works very well for commuters and has taken many cars off our congested rush-hour roads," said Rep. Gerald E. Connolly, D-11th. "This ride-share program for employees assigned to Fort Belvoir, Quantico and the Mark Center adds another meaningful option to help reduce some of the commuter traffic around these facilities."
Tadej stressed that only Department of Defense employees or government contractors would be eligible to participate in the program. Sign-ups will begin in March, and ride sharing would begin in May or June.
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