Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) News

SwRI® Ride Share Program links employees with neighbors, encourages car pooling

San Antonio -- May 5, 2003 -- Southwest Research Institute® has established a carpooling program for its employees. Ride Share encourages employees to contact neighboring co-workers for emergency rides to work or for carpooling by providing an online database of information. The Institute has 2,364 possible carpoolers in its Ride Share system.

Coordinated by the Institute's Research Recreation Association Waste Watchers Committee, the Institute's Information Technology Center, and the Alamo Area Council of Governments (AACOG), the program enables employees to locate other staff members who live within a two-mile radius. Employees may opt out of the program if they do not wish to share their home address and phone number. Staff can view only the information related to their Ride Share partners under the program, which requires a login and password.

"Our hope is that knowing other staff who live close to you will build a sense of community," said Alan Montemayor, a principal engineer in the Engine and Vehicle Research Division and Waste Watchers chair. "We hope people can save money and also reduce stress. There are many benefits to carpooling that include less traffic on the streets, less wear and tear on your vehicle, and less air pollution. Carpooling or helping out a co-worker also builds a spirit of cooperation."

The Institute announced the program in October 2002 with an e-mail to San Antonio staff members. AACOG's Commute Solutions used its mapping capabilities to organize the Institute data to match Ride Share partners. To protect employee privacy, employee names were not provided to AACOG. The Institute's ITC implemented the database onto the SwRI intranet.

San Antonio is currently an air pollution non-attainment area. Carpooling offers one solution for minimizing vehicle emissions pollution.

"I believe we are one of the first companies in San Antonio to actively make information for a carpooling system available," Montemayor said. "At some point, the city may have to account for emissions and try to show how we are helping reduce pollution. This program also ties in nicely with our efforts to follow ISO 14001, an environmental quality management system."

Employees who participate in the Ride Share program by carpooling are rewarded with incentive prizes such as a free coffee mug for the ride to work.

Since the program began earlier this year, several employees have filled out an "I carpool" form. Montemayor said others use the list as a way to meet their SwRI neighbors or for emergency or one-time rides to work.

"We wanted to give employees more options," Montemayor said. "There are personal as well as community benefits."

The Institute will continue its Ride Share program with quarterly data updates. For more information, contact Montemayor at (210) 522-6940 or e-mail amontemayor@swri.org.