• And the Winners Are…
• Long-Range Transportation Demand Management (TDM) Plan
• Bike the Valley
• New Look for Transit in Charlottesville
• Special Events and Carpools

It’s not just nice to share – it pays off! Just ask Esther Thatcher of Afton or Jill Hance of Barboursville. Each won a great prize for just doing something they were already doing – sharing the ride.

RideShare recently held a prize drawing to encourage members to try our new online ride matching system. Everyone that logged in to check their profile was entered in a drawing for a $100 Visa gift card. Congratulations to Esther Thatcher for winning the prize!

Jill Hance took the Clean Commute Pledge, part of the 20th Annual Clean Commute Day held on May 7th. All pledges were entered in a prize drawing, and Jill won the Grand Prize – a pair of roundtrip tickets on Amtrak’s Northeast Regional service, good for travel from Charlottesville to as far as Boston or any stop along the way. Jill carpools with her husband each day to their jobs in Charlottesville.

Look for more contests from RideShare coming this fall. We’ll be celebrating Try Transit Week in September and RideShare Awareness Week in October. More details to come closer to the event dates. If you have an idea for a contest or promotion, let us know! We are always looking for new ways to encourage people to share the ride, and in turn, we hope they’ll share the word with friends and neighbors that could also benefit from RideShare.

back to top

As the region’s designated TDM agency, RideShare is responsible for TDM planning and works to incorporate TDM into regional planning as a voting member on urban and rural transportation committees. Beginning in 2009, the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation (DRPT) requires all agencies receiving TDM grant funds to prepare and submit a Long-Range TDM Plan. The purpose of the Plan is to identify and detail the TDM programs currently provided in the region, to outline potential improvements to be carried out in the Plan’s timeframe, and to illustrate the financial resources necessary to implement these programs and improvements. It establishes the scope and benefits of RideShare’s programs and provides information for DRPT to incorporate RideShare’s TDM plans into the State’s overall TDM plans, funding decisions, and programs.

More specifically, the document will:

• Serve as a management and policy document for RideShare;
• Provide DRPT with information necessary to fulfill related planning and programming requirements;
• Document current and proposed future operating budgets for RideShare; and
• Provide all information necessary to include RideShare into the Six-Year Improvement program (SYIP), Statewide Transportation Improvements Program (STIP), Transportation Improvement Program (TIP), and Constrained Long-Range Plan (CLRP).

RideShare’s Long-Range TDM Plan incorporates relevant information from existing transportation planning documents and available TDM-related research studies. While many documents and studies were utilized in preparing RideShare’s Long-Range TDM Plan, the 2007 Virginia State of the Commute Survey (VSOC Survey) is a key information source. The VSOC Survey was the Commonwealth’s first statewide assessment of work-related commuting. This statewide study included a large number of residents from the TJPDC-RideShare region. More information on the VSOC Survey is available at http://www.drpt.virginia.gov/activities/stateofcommute.aspx. The draft Long Range TDM Plan is available here.

For more information on RideShare’s Long-Range TDM plan, contact Lisa Horanyi at 434-295-6165 or via email at lhoranyi@tjpdc.org.

back to top

If you live in the Shenandoah Valley area and own a bike, there is a great resource to help you choose the best route for your commute, exercise or just a relaxing scenic ride. BiketheValley.org is an online resource assembled by riders of the area to help you choose your route whatever your reason for riding the roads of the beautiful Shenandoah Valley.

The website is a product of the Central Shenandoah Planning District Commission’s (CSPDC) Bike Pedestrian Committee – an advocacy group with representatives from the 10 local jurisdictions in the planning district and staffed by the CSPDC. The group has identified and mapped over 40 on-road bicycle routes throughout the region. The routes offer a great variety of length and difficulty so that there is something for families and beginners, recreational cyclists, and veteran riders. BiketheValley.org includes route maps along with turn-by-turn directions, lengths, elevations and other information. The maps can be downloaded and printed to use. Other important information can be found on the website including links to local bicycle clubs and shops, safety tips and rules of the road, bicycle tours and events as well as links to each of the cities and counties in the region.

One highlight of Bike the Valley is the “Bike Like Ike” safety awareness program, which originally began as a class project on the campus of JMU in partnership with the City of Harrisonburg and the CSPDC. What started as a class project has turned into a regional effort to promote safe bicycling practices throughout the Valley and is specifically geared at college-age students. Ike is a fictional character created by the students at JMU to represent them as the ambassador of safe cycling. The “Bike Like Ike” campaign includes bus ads and brochures with bicycle safety tips from Ike.

For more information about Bike the Valley, “Bike Like Ike,” and the Shenandoah Valley Bicycle and Pedestrian Committee please visit www.bikethevalley.org or call the Central Shenandoah Planning District Commission at 540-885-5174.

back to top

Chances are, if you live or work in the Charlottesville area, you’ve heard about some changes to the transit system. Charlottesville Transit Service (CTS) recently changed its name to Charlottesville Area Transit, or CAT. With the name change comes a new logo and a new “green” operations facility. RideShare staff had the opportunity to tour the new facility during an open house on June 17th. Read on for more information on the facility excerpted from CAT’s website. Click here for a fact sheet on the CAT Green Maintenance & Operations Facility.  

Charlottesville Area Transit (CAT) hosted a grand opening for its new maintenance and operations facility at 1545 Avon Street Extended, just south of the City of Charlottesville. The high-performance facility was designed and constructed to achieve the US Green Building Council’s LEED Certification. Attended by officials including Delegate David Tuscano and Vice Mayor Holly Edwards, the new facility not only updates CAT’s operational capabilities, but is part of a broader green vision for public transportation in Charlottesville.

“By upgrading our capabilities through this new green facility, CAT will be positioned not only to provide current services to the community in a more efficient manner, but to expand and address future needs,” said Bill Watterson, Manager for CAT. “Charlottesville Transit is an important part of a greener future for Charlottesville. That future includes this new facility as well as adding hybrid-electric buses to the service fleet in 2011. As transit demand in Charlottesville grows, we’ll be ready to meet it.”

The new facility houses a variety of CAT’s functions and employees -- including drivers, mechanics, and administrative staff -- at one location. Among the structures on site are an administration and operations building, maintenance shop, fuel island, and vehicle wash building. The property also incorporates parking spaces for the entire CAT bus fleet.

Green practices are projected to result in an average energy savings of 30% over baseline code-compliant buildings, and an estimated water conservation of 1.56 million gallons per year. Designed by local firm VMDO Architects and constructed by the W.M. Jordan Company, LEED certification is anticipated for 2011, and will make this CAT’s second green facility. CAT’s Downtown Transit Station at 615 East Water Street was LEED-Gold Certified in March 2008, the first municipal building in Virginia to receive the honor.

CAT provides public transportation on 18 routes throughout greater Charlottesville. In both the 2010 and 2009 fiscal years, more than 2 million passengers boarded a Charlottesville Transit vehicle. Daytime routes operate Monday through Saturday from 6:15 AM until 6:45 PM, with night service until 11:45 PM on selected routes. Sunday bus service is offered on the FREE Trolley and Route 7. All CAT vehicles are wheelchair accessible and equipped with bike racks.

For more information about CAT, please contact Customer Service at 434.970.3649 or visit charlottesville.org/transit.

back to top

If you have searched for a carpool at www.rideshareinfo.org recently, you may have noticed a tab called “Special Events.” This is a new feature that we are offering to members and we need your help to get started. We have populated the Special Events feature with a few events, such as upcoming concerts at the John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville. Currently only the RideShare administrator can add events to the list; however, there is no limit on the number or type of events we can add. If you are attending an upcoming event and would like to offer a ride or search for a carpool, please email us at rideshare@tjpdc.org and we’ll add your event to the list. Carpooling to special events saves time and reduces traffic – plus you’ll save the cost of event parking, which is a huge benefit.

Another new feature is the ability for RideShare staff to form carpools within the system. You may have noticed that when you receive a carpool match, you can see whether or not that person is already in a carpool. If you are not sure if you are listed as in a carpool or not, please let us know. Please email the names of those in your carpool to rideshare@tjpdc.org. And if you are carpooling at least twice a week, you are eligible to register for our Guaranteed Ride Home program, which covers your transportation if the unexpected happens while you're at work.

For more information on these and other services that RideShare offers free of charge, visit our website at www.RideShareInfo.org or call us at (888) 974-5500. We look forward to working with you.

back to top

Unsubscribe
You are receiving this newsletter because you have indicated you would like to stay informed on RideShare programs and projects. If you no longer wish to receive this communication, we will promptly remove your address from the distribution list. Click here to unsubscribe.. 

RideShare – a service of the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission and
Central Shenandoah Planning District Commission
PO Box 1505, Charlottesville, VA 22902
www.rideshareinfo.org.
(888) 974-5500