Jammed in a sardine van

Tired of following the highway train of cars heading down the road each morning to the University of Iowa? Leave the driving hassle to someone else and join a van pool.

More people are getting out their cars. According to an article by the UI News Service (written by former colleague Anne Kapler —way to go, Anne!) the UI Van Pool uses 85 vehicles to haul almost 900 commuting employees daily.

The Van Pool is celebrating its 30th birthday this year. Here are some of the numbers from UI Commuter Programs:

4: Vans in 1978.
85: Vans in 2008.
48: Participants in 1978.
877: Participants in 2008.
4: Communities served in 1978.
34: Communities served in 2008.
1,198,424: Van miles in 2008.
84,934: Gallons of gas used by vanpool in 2008.
361,079: Gallons of gas saved (est.) by using vanpooling in 2008.

Here are some tips for riding in a vanpool. (Not endorsed by the UI.):

• Do not talk politics — Your fellow riders may not appreciate your "Sarah Palin and a pit bull walk into a bar..." joke.
  
• Do not talk religion — Until you pray out loud when the driver passes six cars uphill on a two-lane.
  
• Do not douse yourself with perfume or cologne — Your fellow riders are not sleeping, they've been asphyxiated.
  
• Do not use your cell phone — Thirty minutes of endless chatter about your latest colonoscopy is about 29:59 too long.
  
• Do not pass gas — You, not the van.
  

Send me your vanpool tips! Time to hit the highway.