Some are true van pools in which the driver is supplied with the van and recruits riders to fill it. The option for employers is a third-party van pool in which an employer subsidizes the service but only its employees ride. Considering that all forms of surface transportation are subsidized one way or another, Harris said van pooling is the absolute cheapest way to get cars off the road. You can be very creative, she says. In Hawaii, there are smoking vans and nonsmoking, talking vans and nontalking.
Some groups get so friendly that they socialize together.
Some combine taking workers to jobs with delivering children to schools or day-care. Van pools are cheap, compared with big buses, light or heavy rail or monorails, because they don t require a big investment. And because they don t have to pay a driver. Vanpool, a national business, has contracted with the Department of Transportation to encourage and provide vans. The driver rides free.