Ride Solutions reports an increase in membership

At 7:30 a.m. on the dot a group of carpoolers pull out of their meeting spot in Salem and head to work in Blacksburg.  Each day is a different driver and a different car, but the savings are all the same.

“I know that the last time I filled my car I think I got 16 some gallons, it was right at $60 and if I were driving by myself that would not last all week,” said Richard Lovegrove, a carpooler.

With today’s gas prices it would cost each driver about $60 a week to fill-up if he or she were to drive every day.  That would add up to around $3100 a year.
By rotating commutes between five drivers each person only has to drive on average once a week only spending around $12 on gas.

When you multiply that by the 52 weeks in the year it costs just over $600 and on average, that adds up to a savings of about $2,500!

I’m not a millionaire, I could use that money for other things,” Lovegrove said.

Saving money on gas is a major reason why many in our area are turning to Ride Solutions.  In fact, just in the last three months they’ve increased their clientele by 30 percent.  As gas prices inch up so do the number of people looking for other options.

“The previous year we went from probably 250 to 300 over the course of a year and then another 100 people over the course of the last three months or so,” Jeremy Holmes said, Program Director of Ride Solutions.

Holmes added those drivers who were once unwilling to give up their car to ride in someone else’s are becoming more open-minded about daily travel.

“I think we’re reaching that point where it’s no longer very easy to cut other things out of your budget to make up for gas and people are actually looking at we’ll I need to do something different with how I drive,” Holmes said.

At ten minutes after 8 o’clock, they pulled into the parking lot, unloaded and headed into work.  They’ve made small changes to their commute that equal big changes in their bank accounts.