For more than 30 years, ridesharing has been a popular mode of travel at Hacienda. That popularity is understandable. The average cost of driving a 2018 vehicle is about 59 cents per mile for someone who drives 15,000 miles a year, according to the American Auto Association. As a driver, ridesharing immediately cuts the cost of owning a vehicle. As a rider, ridesharing can be a convenient, affordable way to commute and help eliminate the need to own a car.

The Bay Area Carpool Program

The Bay Area Carpool Program is sponsoring a new promotion called Five Free Rides to help reduce single drivers, emissions, and congestion. Five Free Rides gives new Scoop and Waze Carpool riders in the nine-county Bay Area the opportunity to experience the ease of carpooling with improved technology. The Scoop and Waze Carpool mobile apps both provide matches, scheduling, and seamless payment.

"The downside of the Bay Area's booming economy is that highways and transit are both crowded, making carpooling more relevant than ever," says Barbara Laurenson, Carpool Program Manager for the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC). The Bay Area Carpool Program is an initiative of the MTC. MTC has funded the Five Rides Free promotion with grants from the Federal Highway Administration, a division of the U.S. department of transportation, and the Bay Area Air Quality Management District.

"Five Free Rides gives commuters a free trial pass," says Laurenson. "The Five Free Rides incentive invites commuters to get comfortable with carpooling and realize how lovely the experience is when you find a community of like-minded people who want to reduce commute stress, use HOV lanes, and help the environment."

The promotion began on February 1, 2019 and runs through June 30. After new Scoop users download the mobile app, the free rides will automatically be placed into their account. After new Waze Carpool users download the mobile application, they need to enter promo code CARPOOL to activate the free rides. The Five Free Rides offer expires two weeks after an app is downloaded so all five free rides must be taken within that period.

"Scoop and Waze Carpool are unique in their approaches to matching, so commuters can choose the one most comfortable for them," says Laurenson. "Waze lets the rider and the driver have more say in who they match with, while Scoop does more of the planning and lets users get all the logistics settled hours before it is time to commute."

Hacienda Nationally Recognized Commute Leader

Hacienda residents and those who work a Hacienda businesses have long had access to a variety of convenient commute options. Over many years, Hacienda has been recognized nationally as a Best Workplace for Commuters, most recently earlier this year. When the Free Five Rides promotion expires at the end of June, Hacienda Special Offers and commuter services will continue to make commuting easier and more affordable for eligible businesses and individuals.

For example, one of Hacienda's key commuting benefits is the ECO Pass, which allows all of the park's employees and affiliated residents to ride the local Wheels buses for free seven days a week, 365 days a year. For those who rideshare, Hacienda provides a special parking location incentive. All sites within Hacienda must provide a portion of preferential parking spaces to vehicles used for ridesharing. These spaces are marked as ridesharing spaces and are located adjacent to the front entry of each building. Drivers must apply for a Hacienda rideshare pass, which allows them to park in the designated spaces.

Special Hacienda Rideshare Opportunities

Hacienda has also partnered with many companies, including Waze and Scoop, to make commuting easier. The Hacienda Special Offer from Waze invites eligible employees and residents to take advantage of $1 rides, regardless of the distance traveled, throughout March and April 2019. (Drivers will receive full compensation for all trips.) A $20 bonus is available for new Waze Carpool users that join the Hacienda Carpool Group and complete their first carpool. An extra $20 bonus is also available for anyone in the Hacienda Carpool Group that completes five rides by the end of March. Qualifying new users who miss the Five Free Rides promotion can still get two free rides from Scoop as a Hacienda Special Offer.

Duet is another great commute option for eligible individuals. As part of a Hacienda Special Offer, Duet offers 10% off its standard rates for program fees, ride fees, and ride passes. The Duet mobile app accepts ten different commuter benefits cards for its shuttle services, and the service is qualified for IRS transportation commuting benefits. Long American Tradition

Longstanding Tradition

In the United States, ridesharing dates back to 1914, according to the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). During the summer of 1914, the outbreak of World War I created a recession. In Los Angeles, some enterprising vehicle owners who needed money responded to the recession by picking up streetcar passengers in exchange for the five-cent streetcar fare called a jitney. A mere six months later, the city had issued 1,520 chauffeur licenses for jitney operation, which had spread across to the nation to Portland, Maine by March 1915. The jitney craze, as it became known, lasted until 1918 but the American appreciation for ridesharing has never ended.

Different ridesharing benefits have been lauded in different eras. During World War II, for example, the federal government heavily promoted ridesharing to help conserve resources for the war effort. "This period of rideshare promotion was exceptionally unique in that it entailed an extensive and cooperative effort between the federal government and American oil companies," notes MIT. The energy crises of the 1970s also sparked interest in ridesharing, and it was during this period that various states began experimenting with High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes. The early 1970s marked another first for ridesharing, according to MIT: "It was the first time that it was recommended as a tool to mitigate air quality problems."

Today, saving money, conserving resources, and reducing pollution are still excellent reasons to support ridesharing as Hacienda has done for so many years. The Five Rides Free promotion and Hacienda's many Special Offers make it easier than ever to sample different types of ridesharing and commuting options to find the one that works best for you. To gain access to the many special features on the Hacienda website as well as take advantage of Special Offers, Hacienda invites you to create a Hacienda account. To do so, please visit www.hacienda.org and click the Login/Create Account button near the top right of every page. Additional information on creating an Employee or Resident account can be found by visiting www.hacienda.org/help/help-accounts-employees-and-residents.

For more information about the Five Free Rides promotion and the Bay Area Carpool Program, please visit carpool.511.org.

For more information about the Hacienda ECO Pass program and additional commute options, please visit www.hacienda.org/form/details/wheels%20eco%20pass .

For more information about the Waze Special Offer, please visit www.hacienda.org/form/details/Waze%20Carpool.

For more information about the Scoop new rider Special Offer, please visit www.hacienda.org/form/details/New%20Rider%20Program%20Scoop.

For more information about the Duet Special Offer, please visit www.hacienda.org/form/details/Duet.

For more information about the Preferential Parking for Rideshare program and to apply for a rideshare parking pass as a driver, please visit www.hacienda.org/form/details/rideshare%20pass and log in to your existing account or create a new account for more details.