LCTI: Agricultural Worker Vanpools Pilot Project

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Clean Mobility Options Legacy Pilot Project

California Vanpool Authority | Agricultural Worker Vanpools Pilot Project     

California Vanpool Authority Logo

June 2018 – December 2019 

Project Details

The Agricultural Worker Vanpools Pilot Project provided safe, convenient, and reliable transportation for agricultural workers living in disadvantaged agricultural areas around the state. The project achieved emission reduction benefits through the deployment of 154 lower-emission hybrid technology passenger vans - displacing the use of single-passenger vehicles. The majority of vans were deployed in the San Joaquin Valley (75 percent), with remaining vans serving the Coachella, Salinas and Imperial Valleys.

Project Highlights

  • 100% of membership consisted of low-income residents.
  • The pilot project provided a test of XL hybrid conversion technology. 
  • The 154 hybrid conversion vans provided 282,000 rides. 
  • Total VMT for project vanpools was 2,020,018 miles and net passenger auto VMT reductions was 16,347,530 miles. 
  • The vanpool service has reduced an estimated annual GHG emissions by 7,128 metric tons.   

 Lessons Learned 

  • Automate and streamline the fleet management system, (e.g., tracking mileage, passenger counts, vehicle maintenance). Quarterly reporting of telematics and user data required under the grant was cumbersome and labor intensive.
  • The majority ofemission benefits (97 percent) was from replacing single passenger gasoline automobiles with pooled transportation. 
  • Hybrid conversion vans were not well suited for the bumpy, uneven terrain required to reach agricultural field sites and do best on paved, on-road applications.  

Funding Details 

Grant Amount: $6,000,000 

Resource Contributions: $1,500,000 

Project Total: $7,500,000 

By the Numbers 

Services, Vehicles & Equipment Funded 

  • 154, 2018 Chevrolet Express 3500, 15-passenger gasoline vans 
  • 282,000+ Riders 
  • 2,800,000+ Miles travelled  
  • 4 In-person Community Events  

Estimated Quantifiable Benefits  

  • GHG emission reductions: 7,128 MTCO2e 
  • NOx reductions: 4,202 lbs 
  • PM2.5 reductions: 658 lbs 
  • ROG reductions:  968 lbs 
  • Passenger VMT reductions: 16,347,530 miles 
  • Travel cost savings: $8,972,990  
  • Fossil fuel-based transportation fuel use reductions: 580,558 gallons 
  • Direct Jobs: 6  
  • Indirect Jobs: 4  
  • Induced Jobs: 6  

Van on the field  2 farmers working on the field and white van on the background

Community Details 

This program targets agricultural workers living in disadvantaged agricultural communities around the state.  Approximately 75 percent of the fleet served agricultural workers in the San Joaquin Valley and the remaining vans serving workers in the Coachella, Imperial and Salinas Valleys and other disadvantaged and low-income agricultural communities statewide.   

Community Benefits 

This project takes a holistic equity approach to implementing active and clean transportation strategies, by providing clean transportation options to low-income community residents. While defining EV carshare program as a viable public transportation option for all Angelenos, the program performance will help build a model for future low-income transportation programs. 

Outreach & Engagement Strategies 

  • Project website
  • Facebook  
  • Newsletters and blog posts 
  • Community health events 
  • Rider appreciation events 
  • Flyers and brochures 

Target Populations 

  • Agricultural workers 
  • Low-income residents/households
  • Low-income communities 
  • Disadvantaged communities  
  • People of color 
  • Residents without access to a vehicle

Partnership Structure

Grantee 

As a Joint Powers Transit Authority (JPA), the California Vanpool Authority, CalVans, is a public transit agency that provides vanpools to farmworkers across the state. For over 20 years, CalVans has made a difference in people's lives providing nontraditional public transit while reducing the carbon footprint in the communities served. CalVans helps reduce the need to operate single occupancy vehicles in rural, lowincome and disadvantaged communities by providing workers with safe, affordable, and flexible shared transportation to work sites and employment centers.  Metropolitan areas are served by larger transit agencies that provide support to their community and population, but these agencies are often not able to serve rural communities. CalVans program meets all state and federal requirements for form labor transportation.  

Contact

calvans@co.kings.ca.us | (866) 655-5444 Office | CalVans