Commuter Resources
Learn about your commute choices in the Bay Area.
Did you know that Bay Area employers with 50 or more full-time employees in the Air District’s nine-county jurisdiction are required to provide commuter benefit options to their employees? Check with your employer to see what commute options they encourage and offer.
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Drive Alone$7.00$6.001.5 hours
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Bridge TollGasTime Spent
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Carpool$1.16$2.0045 min.
Save $9.84 and 45 minutes per day -
that's $196.80 and 15 hours per month!
*Calculations assume a 40mi commute crossing the Bay Bridge into San Francisco, fuel economy of 35 mpg, gas price of $5/gal, and a carpool of 3 people.
Commuter Choices
There are many options instead of driving alone in the Bay Area. Learn more about the benefits of each and find the best way to flex your commute by using the table below.
| Transportation mode | What is it? | Resources |
| Carpooling | Save time and money and reduce your impact by finding connections with people who make similar trips to and from your home and work. | Find your Bay Area carpool match today. Many employers offer employee carpool matching – check with yours! You may also live near a casual carpool site, where people meet as either drivers or passengers at designated locations in the East Bay and travel to downtown San Francisco. |
| Vanpooling | A vanpool is a group of seven to 15 people commuting together with an unpaid driver. Vanpool vehicles can be rented through a third-party provider, owned by an individual, or provided by an employer. | The Bay Area Vanpool Program provides qualified vanpools $400 off the monthly cost of a vanpool. The program helps commuters find vanpool seats, start vanpools get free bridge tolls, get discounted parking, and keep vanpools on the road with an "empty seat" subsidy. Some vanpoolers can get even more benefits from the county where they live or work. Your employer may also let you set aside pre-tax dollars for vanpool payments. |
| Guaranteed ride home program | Guaranteed or Emergency Ride Home Programs offer the reassurance that you can get home in case of an emergency like illness, family crisis, or unforeseen overtime when you've taken an alternative mode of travel to work such as transit, a carpool, vanpool, or bike. | Visit 511.org/carpool/guaranteed-ride-home to see if the county where you work is offering a Guaranteed or Emergency Ride Home Program. |
| Transit | The Bay Area has numerous public transportation options. Commute by bus, ferry, light rail, and regional rail networks, such as BART, SMART, CalTrain, ACE Train, and Amtrak’s Capitol Corridor and San Joaquin lines. | Get a Clipper Card, a seamless, standardized payment option for 24 transit agencies around the region. Your employer may also let you set aside pre-tax dollars for transit payments. |
| Biking | Whether you’re biking all the way to work, or just riding to the nearest transit station, biking offers freedom, convenience, and fitness benefits. | See the safest bicycle routes and connections in your area. |
Spare the Air Status
Last Updated: 8/8/2023