Area ride-sharing program to serve town workers

By Scott Merzbach
Staff Writer

Published on December 05, 2008

A local ride-sharing effort already being supported by the town of Amherst is gearing up to establish a group aimed specifically at municipal employees.

Jeff Brown, executive director of RideBuzz.org, told the Select Board last week that his proposal is to launch a ride-share network for Amherst employees. The group will be password protected, so only employees with town government email addresses would be able to participate.

While the town Web site already has a link to RideBuzz for the general public, Brown sought authorization from the board to add this new link for employees.

Town Manager Larry Shaffer said he is fully supportive of the endeavor. "We think this is a terrific idea. We think this is an idea whose time has come," Shaffer said.

Shaffer noted that he wants to help increase the universe of people offering and seeking rides.

Having a closed community for the employees, as it has done for other organizations, is a way of making people feel comfortable if they are just starting out in this new concept of carpooling, Brown said.

"It enables communications within the town for employees to connect with each other," Brown said.

While people can go on RideBuzz to place posts looking in advance for rides, the goal is to have the site eventually attract both people with empty seats in vehicles and those seeking rides.

Ride sharing, Brown said, reduces traffic, carbon emissions and cost. Brown said employees could cut their expenditures in half, saving up to $4,400 a year.

Brown notes that studies show that 25 cents of every $1 the average person spends goes toward transportation.

But despite the financial and environmental advantages, Brown said these efforts need the assistance of town government and the inspiration of civic leaders.

"The town of Amherst is progressive in its thinking and helping to engender solutions," Brown said.

Board Chairman Gerry Weiss suggested that Town Meeting members could use the site to reduce their trips to the Town Meeting sessions.

"It's challenging to grow ride-share networks," Brown said. "In my experience, it does take a concentrated effort."

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.