Rides partners with Enterprise to fill gaps for local commuters

Officials with Rides, a nine-county regional transit authority in northwest Iowa, hope a new partnership with Enterprise Rentals will benefit local businesses while also helping to support Rides' core transportation services.

Rides recently announced its agreement with Enterprise's Commute Program, which is aimed at providing options for local employees in need of transportation outside Rides' normal operating hours. Cindy Voss, associate executive director of Rides, said the company's 55 drivers can only meet so many needs — for example, she said the fleet isn't able to provide a 2 a.m. pickup for those working an overnight shift, or a 4 a.m. drop off to begin an early day shift.

And that's where she said the Commute Program can help.

Abby Wilcox, a sales executive with Enterprise, said the program allows a group of four to 15 employees living relatively close to one another and working similar shifts to use a rented vehicle to commute together. The rental can be kept in a safe location, such as an employee's home, and each van pool can meet at a specific location before leaving for work. Voss said the Dickinson County workforce is such that she expects most pools will simply pick one another up at their homes.

Wilcox said the Commute Program not only builds camaraderie and moral among employees, but it can cut down on parking lot congestion and increase recruitment and retainment for employers. She said it may also help some businesses expand the region from which they draw employees.

The Commute Program has been in operation for about 40 years, Wilcox said, but it had largely been marketed in congested areas of the coastal states. However, she said trends are shifting.

"In the last few years, we're finding that people in the Midwest — here in the rural markets — need us more than the people on the coasts," she said, later highlighting companies such as Tyson Foods, the Veterans Hospital in Iowa City and a Google data center in Council Bluffs as examples of Iowa businesses using the Commute Program.

Wilcox said Enterprise currently has more than 10,000 van pools across 48 states, with more than 3,000 of them being added in the last year. She said the Commute Program saves employees about 1 billion commuter miles annually, eliminating an estimated  812 million pounds of carbon emissions — a potential added bonus for companies seeking to meet green energy initiatives, Wilcox said.

The cost of the month-to-month rental ranges from $1,350 to $1,850 depending on the vehicle size, Wilcox said. However, as part of the local partnership, Rides will provide a monthly subsidy of $500 to participating employers. The remaining cost can then be divided between the employer and each van pool in a variety of ways, sometimes using pre-tax dollars as an added incentive. In fact, Enterprise staff said some entities using the Commute Program pay for the rental in full, leaving the van pools to simply cover the cost of fuel. Insurance and maintenance costs as well as 24-hour roadside assistance are handled through Enterprise rather than an employer. Wilcox also noted an approved driver within each van pool serves as the main point of contact when such needs arise.

While Rides won't have a direct hand in coordinating the Commute Program, Rides CEO Hugh Lively said participation in the program will help bolster the federal and state dollars Rides receives. Its government funding is based on the number of people served as well as miles travelled, and Voss explained programs like Commute are referred to as purchase transit under the funding model.

Rides currently uses about 50 vehicles to provide between 250,000 and 300,000 trips for the northwest Iowa public each year, with about 10,000 complimentary trips, according to staff.

"The more van pools that we have within our region, it will give Rides more money to provide other services to enhance our true public transportation, for example here in Spirit Lake, Arnolds Park, Okoboji, Milford and any other parts of our nine counties," Lively said.