Commuters see big advantages in van pooling

RAND PRAIRIE – For years, Cynthia Igbinovia drove a thirsty SUV 60 miles round-trip from her home in Mansfield to her job as an insurance underwriter in downtown Dallas. Brenda Ross took the same route in a Mercedes to her job as a registered nurse. And Kimberly Graves battled traffic in her Chrysler 300 from Grand Prairie to work at the Environmental Protection Agency.

But on Monday at 6 a.m., they and five others instead gathered in a Kroger parking lot, ducking into a rented white van, shielded from the onward march of gas as it nears a Texas average of $4 a gallon.

The van-pooling group – car pooling in a van – was formed two years ago by Ms. Igbinovia under a program administered by the Fort Worth Transportation Authority.

And as gas prices have soared, the demand for vans like hers has risen in step.

In Tarrant County, 166 vans are now on the roads, an increase from 144 last April, with a waiting list of additional riders needing vans. Dallas Area Rapid Transit is maxed out at 145 vans with a waiting list of more than 20 would-be van pools.

The word is quickly spreading as more commuters turn to catch a shared ride through networking Web sites.

"I'm getting calls every week from people wanting to ride," said Ms. Igbinovia, who first advertised for fellow commuters on bathroom doors in her office.

Local transportation agencies typically provide the van insurance and gas to a group of riders who live and work near each other. The group provides a primary vanpool manager and drivers.

Riders of the Grand Prairie van pay about $71 a month to participate. Ms. Igbinovia, as the group's manager, pays nothing