Creative Commuting: Ozarkers turn to car pools

Branson/Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce and Convention & Visitors Bureau employees Jakub Konysz and Dave Johnson share a ride from their Springfield homes to their Branson office. They are among at least six Branson chamber staff members who commute together.

“One advantage of car pooling is definitely the money,” said Konysz, an Internet management specialist, who lives about 40 miles from his office. “Now, I only fill (the gas tank) every other week.”

Konysz and Johnson, a graphics specialist, also share a concern for the environment.

“We feel like we are doing our job and looking out for the environment and protecting against global warming, an especially important topic nowadays,” Konysz said.

While these new and developing issues have increased awareness about ride sharing, the state has provided area commuters car pool parking lots for more than a decade. Ozarks Transportation Organization Executive Director Dan Rudge believes those lots can afford to handle more action, if for nothing else than to free up traffic-battered roadways.

Rudge sees many areas of congestion in Springfield, from Chestnut Expressway to James River Freeway.

“We know that (Highway) 65 is over capacity for the morning and afternoon peak,” said Rudge, whose organization is the Springfield region’s federally designated transportation planning organization. “We know that the drive up Campbell Avenue, U.S. 160, should really only take about 15 minutes. It is predicted to go up to about 56 minutes by 2030. We see a lot of businesses that have clustered along the James River Freeway corridor. Those areas aren’t particularly well-served by transit, especially when you talk about going to outlying communities.”

Car pool perks

Ken Childers, director of special events at the Dick Clark American Bandstand Theater in Branson, also has bought into the car pool idea.

Sharing his commute with a co-worker allows Childers to discuss work issues, plan long-term strategies, prepare for meetings or unwind after a grueling day.

“It’s a good way to get myself in the right frame of mind for work that day, and it’s a good way to decompress after work,” Childers said. “It is also cool to share it with a buddy.”

Childers, Konysz and Johnson make use of the Missouri Department of Transportation’s commuter parking lot at Evans Road and Highway 65, where on a recent morning, there were about 20 cars parked.

According to Rudge, a Center for Urban Transportation study has shown that car pool programs have a hand in relieving stress.

“A survey that was done on a nationwide basis stated that (participants’) most stressful part of the workday was not sitting at their desk,” Rudge said. “It was actually driving to and from work. … It is shown that they lose about 25 percent of their productivity because of that commute.

“The same study found that a change in the commute time is the number three reason why people leave jobs,” Rudge added. “It is typically behind salary increase and corporate relocation.”

The first step

To help determine if a car pool is a valid method for co-workers or as an employer program, OTO analyzes employee databases, determines possible car pool matches, and suggests resources and programs to explore. Rudge said a car pool is effective for any commute beyond five miles.

The MoDOT lots, Rudge said, serve as a meeting place for a variety of commutes.

“One thing we often hear when we talk to individuals interested in car pooling or van pooling is that they don’t want to spend a lot of extra time driving around to pick up everybody,” Rudge said.

The easiest way to see if a car pool would work: Try it.

“We suggest that anyone interested in car pooling try it one day a week,” Rudge said. “If they like it, they can expand it to other days. There are too many people that think taking the bus, trying alternate work hours or teleworking or anything like that is a five-day-a-week commitment. It’s not. If you car pool for one day a week for an entire year, you save 20 percent of your commuting cost.”

Sometimes an employer can encourage a car pool program just by arranging employees from the same ZIP code together for a meeting.

Childers sees the possibilities in that strategy, once the proper research is done.

“In these go-go times that we have, in this car culture, you don’t know who your neighbors are,” Childers said. “It might not be unusual to be working with someone three offices over and not know they live a mile from where you are or even on the next block.”

The Branson chamber’s Konysz said the first step for him was talking about it.

“I wasn’t very excited about working so far away from home,” Konysz said, “so I started asking co-workers about car pooling. It turns out they were already doing it and had been for about a year.”

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