By STU CLAMPITT
As gas prices continue to rise, there are options for Hamilton County residents to save money.
Commuter Connect, a service of Central Indiana Regional Transportation Authority (CIRTA), offers free and low-cost transportation alternatives to commuters who may be greatly impacted by the soaring gas prices.
These solutions include:
- Van/carpool matching with others who live and work in similar locations
- Workforce Connector Buses for $1 each way, available in Whitestown and Plainfield
- Biking and bikeshare resources
- Free emergency rides home for qualifying participants
Commuter Connect Assistant Director Jennifer Gebhard calls it a carpool and vanpool program.
“It is a resource for anyone who lives or works in Hamilton County and surrounding donut counties,” Gebhard said. “Individuals in the community can reach out to us via our website, CommuterConnect.us, or they can call us at (317) 327-RIDE. We have a database where we match people based on a couple miles of their home, a couple miles of their workplace and their work hours.”
She told The Reporter she thinks of it like Match.com for carpooling.
“I say that because at the end of the day what happens is you get an email from us. It says, ‘Here’s potential connections,’ and for carpooling those people then reach out to people on their list,” Gebhard explained. “I might say, ‘I can drive one week if you can drive the next week.’ Maybe I can’t drive. Maybe I don’t have a license. Maybe I have a visual impairment. Maybe I just hate driving in the snow. Then you can make arrangements with somebody else potentially instead of having to Uber of Lyft and pay those expensive fares to try to get transportation.”
Every major city across the country has a carpool/vanpool program. Commuter Connect serves Central Indiana.
Individuals who register with Commuter Connect and work for a participating employer get five free cab rides home per year in case of emergency.
“Let’s say we have two Fishers residents that are commuting from Fishers to downtown [Indianapolis],” Gebhard said. “They carpool in and one of them get a call that their child is sick at school. If they are registered with us, a cab will come pick them up, take them to get their child from school or daycare, and take them home free of charge up to five times per year.”
In addition to carpool connections, Commuter Connect offers a vanpool service.
“A vanpool is anywhere from five to 15 people who are commuting to a similar location,” Gebhard told The Reporter. “We have had situations where individuals would park at big box stores that we had permission from – for example, the Lowe’s in Carmel off of U.S. 31. We would get permission from the store for people to meet and park their cars there in the morning. Then everyone would hop in our Commuter Connect branded van then they go to a location for work. Maybe they go to downtown Indy and make several stops at several different businesses and eventually end up parking the van at a place of employment where one of the vanpool riders has free parking.”
Gebhard said CIRTA helps subsidize seats in those vans and helps coordinate that partnership and those connections though the Commuter Connect program.
They currently have 27 vans on the road. Pre-pandemic they had 39. During the pandemic they had 10 operating every single day going to essential jobs.
They recently started running two new vans that are bringing people from Kokomo to fill positions at IMMI in Westfield. Throughout the Central Indiana region, Commuter Connect has over 8,000 commuters in their database and over 800 participating employers.
“With gas prices right now and the challenges that Hamilton County employers are having in relation to recruiting and retention I want them to know that Commuter Connect is a resource for them,” Gebhard said.
You can reach Commuter connect online at CommuterConnect.us or by phone at (317) 327-RIDE.
Photos provided by Commuter Connect