Solo drivers on the Boulder Turnpike can earn $3 for each day they switch to carpooling, public transit, biking, telecommuting or some other environmentally friendly alternative under a new plan from a regional transportation panel.
The group, 36 Commuting Solutions, will pay up to $180 over a 90-day period to solo commuters who are accepted in its Commuter Cash program, said executive director Audrey DeBarros.
“Our primary goal is to reduce congestion on U.S. 36,” said DeBarros, whose organization is sponsored by businesses and local governments in the turnpike corridor.
36 Commuting Solutions won $115,000 in federal “congestion mitigation” funds for the program and matched a similar amount of its own, DeBarros said. It will run for two years, will enroll 665 commuters and aims to reduce the number of vehicle miles traveled on U.S. 36 by 15 million during that period.
Matthew Schultz, a resident of Denver’s Highland neighborhood who commutes to his job at Level 3 Communications in Broomfield, is among the first to enroll.
Even though the program doesn’t start until July 1, Schultz started asking colleagues if they wanted to carpool, and he’s already teaming up on the daily commute.
“It was not hard at all,” he said. “Carpooling was always there. It just takes coordination.”
Commuters are eligible to apply for Commuter Cash if they have been driving alone for the past 30 days and they use U.S. 36 for at least a part of their commute, DeBarros said.
Those accepted in the program fill out a daily commuting log and get the $3 for each day they use one of the approved alternatives, she said, adding that the program will operate on “the honor system.”
By carpooling, “I should save the cost of a tank of gas a month,” said Level 3’s Schultz. “It’s something I should be doing anyway.”
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Jeffrey Leib: 303-954-1645 or jleib@denverpost.com
