Ride-Sharing Activities of Virginia Industries

About the report:

This study sought to measure the extent of existing ridesharing programs among Virginia industries, the potential for additional ride sharing, as presently perceived by management, and the type of information thought to be most useful to firms considering ride-sharing programs. A survey questionnaire was distributed to all manufacturing and mining firms with fifty or more employees. Of the 1,050 firms contacted, 482, or 46%, replied. Of these responses, 357 were suitable for complete analysis. From the survey, it was found that approximately half of Virginia manufacturing firms have a ride-sharing program of some type. The vast majority of these programs consist of carpools organized by the employees with little or no assistance from the firm. Van- or bus pools existed in fewer than 10% of the firms. Larger firms tend to be more receptive to ride sharing than smaller firms and support a wider range of program types. Only 12% of the firms without ride-sharing programs are definitely willing to consider a program, but almost two-thirds are possibly interested. Larger firms are more likely to show an interest in a new program than smaller firms. Among the interested firms, carpooling is the most commonly chosen type of program, which is consistent with the finding for existing ride-sharing programs. Seventy-five percent of the firms without ride-sharing programs thought that additional information would be helpful. Information most frequently requested concerned methods to encourage employees to become involved in a program.

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