A quick trip on the "information superhighway" could soon have northern Michigan drivers and riders sharing the ride to work.
The website, www.nmride.net, is the collaborative effort of the Northern Michigan Transportation Alliance (NMTA), a program that brings more than 26 local businesses, nonprofits and human service agencies together with the goal of expanding transportation options in Grand Traverse, Leelanau and Benzie counties.
Michelle Goetz Grahl, Volunteer Coordinator at the Bay Area Transportation Authority (BATA), noted that the NMTA kicked off on January 1, 2005.
"The group of organizations that are part of the transportation alliance recognized that transportation was a problem and that there were a lot of people who needed resources beyond what BATA could provide," she said. "So they started working on additional resources."
The group realized that many different organizations were fielding calls for the same needs. "What we've done is consolidate all of those existing programs into one place," she says. "We share volunteers and we share resources."
The group's first undertaking was medical transports. This program assisted those with transportation challenges by getting them to non-emergent medical appointments.
Those volunteers and resources mean that if a person in Grand Traverse, Leelanau and for the most part Benzie County, needs a ride to a medical appointment and they give Goetz Grahl enough time, she can generally find them a ride there.
With the success of the medical rides program, the group set its focus on getting northern Michigan workers on the job.
"The next mountain we're climbing is the employment and training area," she said. "The first thing we're doing there is this web site."
The Northwest Michigan Council of Government, a partner in NMTA, has taken on the responsibility of creating and maintaining the ride share web site.
Janie McNabb, Communications Coordinator for the Northwest Michigan Council of Government, pointed out that the ride share web site is another component which will assist the NMTA with its goal of providing rides to those who need them.
"The web site is a point of connection," McNabb said. "It's a way for people who have transportation to provide rides to people who don't and for people who don't have transportation to look for (transportation)."
McNabb noted that a web site like this is necessary due to the widespread work force in this area. She says many people travel from beyond the county line in order to come to work in Traverse City. McNabb believes that the ride share program will help people keep their jobs.
"If they're in a job that doesn't allow them the means to afford their own car, or the gas or insurance and so forth then they have difficulty getting to work which means they may lose their job," she said.
The ride share program will be beneficial to all parties involved. "(The carpoolers) can share the cost and it's environmentally better," she said. "It's a benefit for businesses because it allows their employees one more option for reliable transportation that gets them to work and gets them to work on time and makes them a more reliable worker."
McNabb said the web site offers both volunteer drivers and those looking for rides the option to enter a variety of variables to find the best carpool counterpart. Variables such as commute pattern, work schedule, smoking/nonsmoking as well as willingness to share expenses can all be factored in when someone visits the web site.
The program will be the most comprehensive program offered anywhere in the country Goetz Grahl said. She added that while programs exist that are age-based and programs exist for those who qualify through Medicaid, there is no program that attempts to cater to any person who needs transportation.
"The rest of the working poor or low income folks fall through a really big crack," she noted. "We're trying to take away some of those barriers and just really increase those options."
Goetz Grahl is hoping that the web site will retrain drivers in northern Michigan to realize that carpooling, which is not as commonplace as it is in larger cities, is a great option.
"I'm really curious to see .... We've built it, will anyone come?," she said.
The web site will officially be unveiled at a launch scheduled for Wednesday, November 3 from 9 to 11 a.m. at the Michigan Works Service Center at 1209 S. Garfield.