Topics: College of Sciences and Humanities, Human Resources

June 20, 2008

 Pam Stigall is interested in bringing together Ball State employees willing to help her launch a ride-share program at the university.

Stigall, a family and consumer sciences instructor, already has spent time this spring trying to find someone to ride to work with from her home in New Castle. "I even went so far as to drive around campus for the month of May with a sign on the side of my car advertising a ride-share from New Castle to Ball State," she said.

While she's yet to find someone to carpool with, Stigall has helped connect a few other Ball State workers who now do. And she wants to do more.

With some faculty and staff living as far away as Noblesville and Indianapolis and gas exceeding $4 a gallon, she said she figures others are becoming "as concerned about gas prices as I am."

To connect employees with other potential carpoolers from their area, Stigall said she'd be willing to host a Web page devoted to getting a ride-share program off the ground.

The university is researching ways to launch such a program. If there is enough interest, a potential start date could be fall 2009, said Gene Burton, director of public safety.

Burton said a formal ride-sharing program created with the university's cooperation would entail answering questions about how to issue permits for participants in such a program as well as surveying other universities to see if other schools have successfully implemented such a ride-sharing program on their campuses.

"There are questions on our end that we'll need to address, everything from what happens when someone who carpools and doesn't have their own parking permit needs to drive to work one day to who pays for a ticket on a vehicle that is being shared by multiple employees," he said.

"Having employees willing to start the legwork for us on this, to get a Web site started that would help us gauge interest and whether this would be a popular enough idea for us to fund would be a big help for sure," Burton added.

If you are interested in participating in a ride-share program, contact Stigall for more information.

By Gail Werner, Media Strategist