Old "412-471-POOL" signs posted along roads for two decades have been taken down and replaced with larger, more modern versions carrying a toll-free number and a Web site address.
For more information, call toll-free 1-888-819-6110 or visit the improved Web site, www.commuteinfo.org
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation was to have finished Friday erecting 45 of the new 3- by 4-foot signs, with reflective letters and numbers, at strategic travel locations around the region.
"It's a more updated program we're offering" to encourage ride-sharing and public transit use, said Lisa Kay Schweyer, developer of CommuteInfo for the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission. PennDOT erected the signs at the request of the agency, the coordinator of transportation planning for 10 counties around Pittsburgh.
"Commuters and employers now have one point to refer to for all the help and information they need," she said, not only because of more sophisticated computer programs but people placed on staff to provide one-on-one assistance.
Schweyer hopes that the signs, improved resources and expanded outreach programs entice more people to seek information about car pools, van pools and public transit such as the Port Authority.
"We're talking about people making real lifestyle changes" by abandoning their cars, she said, so ride-sharing growth historically has never soared off the statistics chart.
The SPC said 60 percent of 1.5 million workers in southwestern Pennsylvania traveled outside of their home community to work. It said the advantages of ride-sharing and transit were obvious, especially with record-high gas prices and the city's 50 percent parking tax -- saving money, reducing congestion, reducing stress, lowering air pollution and providing other benefits.
But "pooling" is not confined to trips to Downtown and Oakland. "We have people who want to go from Greensburg to Robinson Town Centre to work," Schweyer said, "so we're a regional resource. The new program is set up to handle it."
The home page of the CommuteInfo Web site guides users to "For Commuters" and "For Employers." For the latter group, SPC offers help with such things as employee surveys and federal tax advantages.
First Published: August 29, 2004, 4:00 a.m.
