The St. Louis regional commuter rideshare program – RideFinders – has been connecting commuters with reliable, affordable, sustainable and fun transportation to and from work since 1994. Operated by Madison County Transit, the program is driven to improve air quality in our nine-county, bi-state region by reducing traffic congestion through its carpooling and vanpooling services. This month, the Clean Air Partnership is pleased to shine a spotlight on RideFinders and acknowledge the shared desire of its riders, drivers, clients and staff to make a big difference for our planet and community.
RideFinders provides free, online ride-matching services for commuters interested in sharing the ride in their personal vehicles or by joining or forming a vanpool using RideFinders’ vans. These carpools and vanpools are paving the way to a sustainable future by taking more than 3,100 vehicles off the road, cutting 25 million driving miles and eliminating 1,710,865 pounds of air pollution each year. RideFinders’ air quality-friendly efforts earned them the title of St. Louis Green Business Challenge Leader last year for completing work with a categorized, point-based scorecard enumerating a range of fundamental sustainability measures for business operations.
“RideFinders is a longtime sponsor of the St. Louis Green Business Challenge,” said Kym Brown, Outreach Manager for RideFinders. “Our small team connects commuters to help reduce single-occupancy vehicles on our roadways. This year, our agency Madison County Transit supported us to jump on board as participants—a positive experience! Working with the Challenge staff, our Green Team learned that with a few minor practice modifications, we could significantly improve our environmental impact.”
Over the course of the 2023 Challenge, RideFinders developed its own Green Team made up of staff from several departments and participated in events like the St. Louis Earth Day Festival, where they advertised their vanpool program and handed out more than 500 vegetable plants to festival goers. Green Team members also volunteered for the St. Louis Cardinals “4 A Greener Game” to collect plastic and aluminum cans for recycling. Taking green one step further in-house, RideFinders upgraded to LED lighting in its facilities and parking lots, as well as redesigned and installed signage at all recycling bins to divert waste away from landfills and incinerators, helping to reduce the harmful effects of air pollution.
Another noteworthy initiative that helped RideFinders earn recognition in the Challenge was the continued support of regional employers through its “Do The Ride Thing” campaign. This operation helps resolve region-wide transportation challenges by getting employees to work on time and ready to go, in addition to informing them about the importance of improving air quality by carpooling or vanpooling.
For more information on RideFinders and how your company can get involved in the St. Louis Green Business Challenge, subscribe to their bi-monthly E-Newsletter or visit stlouisgreenchallenge.com. To learn more about the link between sustainability and air quality, explore the Clean Air Partnership’s website, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter at @gatewaycleanair.
