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Carpooling

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1. How do I find a carpool partner?

Contact your co-workers. Talk to neighbors. Post a flyer at your cubicle or work bulletin board. Or complete a ridematch request application on RideshareOnline.com. It’s a free and confidential service that will help you find people in your area who want to share the ride.

RideShareOnline.com

2. Should I carpool with someone I don't know?

Everyone's comfort level is different. Try meeting at a local coffee shop with potential carpoolers to get acquainted prior to riding together.  

3. Should our carpool set rules?

Your carpool will operate smoothly if you establish a few rules in advance. For example, decide on policies about smoking, the radio, wait times and driving rotation. Agree on vacation plans and notification about absences. A few minutes now will save time and headaches later.

4. Should I charge the other riders?

You and your carpool partners should discuss how to fairly distribute the costs of your commute. You can do this by taking turns as the carpool driver, or by having the driver charge each rider a fare that you all agree on. Remember that there are more expenses than just gasoline. Each rider should be expected to pay for a share of the gasoline, parking, oil, service, and wear and tear. For help refer to following guide from AAA.

AAA Driving Costs Guide

5. Do I need car insurance?

Yes, it’s the law. You need insurance for your car and for your passengers. Check with your insurance agent to make sure that you have adequate coverage. Carpool riders may want to see if they qualify for a discount because they are not driving to work each day.

6. How do carpoolers decide who drives?

Some people only want to ride and are willing to reimburse part of the costs, while others prefer to share the driving. If driving is shared, no money needs to exchange hands.

7. What if one partner wants the other to go out of their way to pick up another rider?

It is up to the "poolers" to decide what their pickup points will be. Remember, they should be convenient to all pooling members.

8. What if one carpooler makes the others late for work?

Carpoolers should pick a leave time and stick to it. If problems continue, then partners should discuss ways to reach a resolution. Also, carpoolers should let their supervisors know of their carpool arrangements.

9. How long should a trial period be?

Carpoolers should try a four-week period. This will give them a chance to knock out the kinks and test the waters.

10. What if one person decides they do not want to carpool with the other person?

Hopefully, the carpoolers established a trial period. This way, if one or both do not like the situation it’s easier to leave it.

11. An employee only lives two miles away from work. Can they still carpool?

Yes! A carpool trip counts regardless of the trip length.

12. What if I need to get home in the case of an emergency?

If your employer partners with Pierce Transit and you use a smart commute option to get to work, you may be eligible for a free taxi, Lyft or Uber ride home in case of an emergency. Contact your Employee Transportation Coordinator or visit the following page for more information. Rides are capped at $100 per trip and six trips per year.

Emergency Ride Home Service

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Pierce Trips Calendar FAQs

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1. What is the Pierce Trips Calendar?

The Pierce Trips Calendar is a way to track your trips. When you record your trips, you become more aware of your daily transportation choices and patterns. If you are looking for opportunities to use alternative transportation options more often, recording your trips can help you. You will be able to see your personal cost savings, gallons of gasoline saved and how much air pollution you've prevented from being emitted. Plus, you show support for the program and help encourage others to take part. Unless you opt-out when registering, the calendar is also used as the prize entry form for promotions and campaigns. Qualifying trips will be automatically entered into these various promotions. Through these promotions you may win prizes such as gift cards. Pierce Transit, Pierce County, and the City of Tacoma are not responsible for technical failures in entry transmission, lost, late, misdirected, incomplete, or illegible entries. Entry constitutes permission to use the winner's name and company name for the purposes of promotion on behalf of Pierce Trips. Pierce Trips reserves the right to request a short interview and picture from winners for the purposes of promotion on behalf of Pierce Trips.

2. Where is the Help button for the Trip Calendar?

To find Help, click on your name in the upper right corner and then click on Help or you can scroll to the bottom of the page and click on Help in the bottom right corner. After clicking on help, click on a topic in the left-hand menu to begin. After clicking on a topic, you can search within that topic by pressing ctrl+f and a search browser will open near the top, right above the PierceTrips.com header.

3. How do I edit trips?

From the Calendar tab, click the 'View All Trips' button. Click the pencil icon next to the trip you want to edit. Editing a trip will edit only that individual trip on that individual day. To change the day that trip occurred, enter a different date in the format of mm/dd/yyyy, or press the small calendar icon to select a different day.

4. What counts as an alternative commute option to driving alone?

Any trip made by walking, bicycling, carpool, vanpool, train or bus that replaces a drive-alone vehicle trip. Also trips not made to the worksite because of the result of your compressed workweek schedule or teleworking. Trips can be recorded by anyone traveling to employment or school sites located in Pierce County.

5. What is the difference between trip purposes?

The Pierce Trips calendar allows you to log trips made for different purposes: •Work – trips to and from work (work commute) •Work Meeting/Errand – trips between work and another location for work purposes •School – trips to and from school (school commute) •Personal – trips for personal, non-work reasons (appointments, errands, shopping, going to the park, visiting with family and friends, etc.) 

6. How do I customize "Your Stats"

When you are logged into the trip calendar, the "Your Stats" banner is located at the top of the Calendar page. You can view your achievements for different periods of time by selecting from the This Month, This Year, All Time, or Custom buttons. The Custom selection allows you to select your own dates for the achievement calculation. You can choose which trip purposes are included in your achievement calculation by using the gear icon.

7. How are achievements calculated?

Based on trips you have logged in the trip calendar, and your selections for time period and trip purposes to include, your achievements will calculate your dollar, gasoline, and CO2e savings, as well as trips not driven alone and miles not driven alone. The dollar, gasoline, and CO2e savings represent the difference in cost, gallons of gasoline, and greenhouse gas emissions between driving alone and other modes. The numbers used in calculating the savings for each travel mode were drawn from a document that was developed by WSDOT in collaboration with transportation planners statewide.
How Achievements are Calculated

8. How do I count my Compressed Work Week Schedule?

Track only the days that you have off from work because of a compressed work week schedule. For example if you work 4-10 hour days and take Friday off, because of your compressed schedule, then select only Friday as Compressed Work week day off (CW). This mode is not available to part-time work schedules.

9. Are other types of foot-powered transportation eligible under the "walking" category?

Yes, as long as it is a method of transportation where the foot is in contact with the ground, it is eligible in the "walking" category. This includes mobility aids such as wheelchairs and walkers, skateboards, jogging, rollerblading, and non-motorized scooters, as long as the trip replaces a drive-alone vehicle trip. It does not include Segways.

10. Can I be entered to win prizes for all types of trips?

It depends. Each prize drawing is associated with a different campaign. Each campaign has its own criteria for which trip purposes or modes make a user eligible for the prize drawing (providing they did not opt-out of prize drawings). Some campaigns focus on commute trips by any non-drive alone mode (e.g. Wheel Options). Some campaigns focus on a certain mode (e.g. Bike Month). Check our campaign eligibility page for details.

11. Are there any tax consequences for being a prize winner?

As stated by the IRS, subject to certain exceptions, the cash value of prizes or awards won in a drawing, quiz show program, beauty contest, or other event, must be included on the tax return as taxable income. Taxpayers must also report the fair market value of merchandise or products won as a prize or award, as taxable income.

Pierce Trips and partnering organizations will comply with the IRS reporting requirements for prize winners. According to the IRS instructions, the organization must submit a Form 1099-MISC for any person receiving over $600 in prizes and awards. Recipients of prizes qualifying for a 1099-MISC must agree to provide the information necessary for the 1099-MISC in order to receive their prize; they should expect to receive their forms in time to file their appropriate tax returns.

12. I'm not interested in prizes or material rewards. How do I opt-out of the prize drawings?

When you register as a new user, you can select the opt-out box at the bottom of the page. If you are already registered, you can edit your registration information by clicking on your name in the upper right-hand corner, and then clicking on account. Change your preference by clicking or unclicking No Prizes at the bottom of your Profile page.

13. What if I drive a hybrid or electric vehicle?

If there is more than one person (16+ old) in the car for the commute, then the hybrid or electric vehicle may count as a carpool. Driving alone in a hybrid or electric vehicle may reduce fuel usage and emissions, but does not reduce traffic congestion. Therefore, driving alone in a hybrid or electric vehicle is not an eligible non-drive alone trip.

14. Why are motorcycles and mopeds not included as an alternative mode?

A goal of the program is to encourage transportation methods that reduce traffic congestion. Even given the relative size of a motorcycle to a car, they are still a vehicle using our roadways. We believe that the best way to encourage people to use fewer vehicles overall is to encourage walking, biking, ridesharing, or riding the bus or train. Another goal of the program is to reduce air pollution. According to the EPA, current motorcycle engines pollute at a rate 90 times higher per mile than passenger cars or even a large sport utility vehicle. More information on this issue may be found through the Environmental Protection Agency's website. A motorcycle qualifies as a carpool only if more than one person is riding the same cycle.

Environmental Protection Agency-Motorcycles

15. What if I use a motorized scooter or power-assisted bicycle?

Power-assisted bicycles qualify as a bicycle. Motorized scooters such as Razor scooters are not included.

16. What is Pierce Trips?

Pierce Trips is your one-stop center for transportation options in Pierce County. At this web site you will discover new ways to travel all of your trips, link to services to help with your commute decisions, and find information about providing a commute options program at your worksite.

17. Who sponsors Pierce Trips?

Pierce Trips is a cooperative program sponsored by Pierce Transit, Pierce County and the City of Tacoma. Development of the site and calendar was paid through a federal grant.