A vanpool is a group of 5 to 15 people sharing the ride in a comfortable van.
Pierce Transit's vanpool coordinators manage a fleet of 300 vanpools, including 7-passenger, 8-passenger, 12-passenger and 15-passenger vehicles. These vans are assigned to approved groups and are driven by volunteers who share the commute trip. Pierce Transit owns, maintains, manages, insures and licenses the fleet.

Vanpool riders pay a low monthly fare based on round trip commute miles and number of monthly riders. The primary driver's fare is usually free in exchange for operating the van. Fares cover the costs of operating the van, including gas, maintenance and insurance. Check out our commuter vanpool Fare Chart to determine how much your fare would be. (The chart defaults to the Five Day Work Week schedule. Scroll down to view other schedules and choose the one appropriate for your group if it commutes on a different schedule.

Vanpools offer tremendous savings over the cost of commuting alone. Our Rideshare Specialists can help you locate commuters who want to start or join a vanpool. Complete a Ridematch Application or call us. Or download the following documents to get started putting your group together today:

How to get started
To join an existing vanpool (and remember, any time between now and the end of December, you can try it 5 times for free!) or to find others interested in forming one, complete a Ridematch Application, call us, or visit RideshareOnline.com. You'll need at least 5 people, including yourself to start a vanpool — the more people, the lower your fare.

You can also check out our current vanpools to see if we already have a van going your way.

After you've found your riders, you'll need to identify a volunteer primary driver, backup driver and a bookkeeper. Volunteer driver and volunteer bookkeeper applicants must meet specific requirements. Pierce Transit screens and approves applicants. Each volunteer driver must attend our defensive driver orientation class and each volunteer bookkeeper will attend our administrative training (about forty-five minutes).

What do riders really think of the vanpool experience? "I really enjoy the company I share the ride with. It's a lot of fun!” "I have saved money and wear/tear on my vehicle as well as stress free commute!" For more, see our 2008 Vanpool Survey Report!

Vanpool fares
Monthly vanpool commuter fares are based on the number of round trip miles your van travels each month and the number of monthly riders in the van.

Download our commuter vanpool Fare Chart. The chart defaults to the Five Day Work Week schedule. Scroll down to view other schedules and choose the one appropriate for your group.

The Puget Sound region leads the nation for having the most vanpools per capita and the trend looks positive for continued growth. Vanpooling has grown 250% in the last decade, yet demand for vanpools in the region typically exceeds the supply.

Vanpools eliminate more than 12,400 vehicles every day from the region's crowded roadways, reducing single-lane traffic by about 6.3 hours during each commute period. Vanpoolers lessen our traffic and have an important impact on regional mobility.

NEW! By popular demand...
...this PowerPoint presentation on what to do if one of your vanpool van's tires goes flat. (Warning: BIG file -- 126 mg)

Vanpool Operations Staff