The San Joaquin Council of Governments’ (SJCOG) dibs program, which promotes options to reduce traffic congestion and improve air quality, recently released its annual Smart Travel Report for Fiscal Year 2021-22 highlighting successes such as adding 164 vanpools in San Joaquin County for a total of 417, the highest number in the program’s history spanning three decades.
That 30 percent increase in vanpools means 14,530 cars are off the road each month in San Joaquin County and a reduction of nearly 31.5 million vehicle miles traveled. That results in fewer vehicle emissions and greenhouse gases for better air quality.
As SJCOG’s Transportation Demand Management Program, dibs uses a variety of methods — employer outreach, marketing and social media, tools, and incentives — to entice commuters to make a change to carpooling, vanpooling, riding transit, biking and walking to work to benefit everyone in the region. dibs serviced San Joaquin, Stanislaus and Merced counties in Fiscal Year 2021-22.
“What we do with dibs is very important in changing commuters’ behavior from driving alone in a car to using transportation options that ease congestion and ultimately improve air quality in the region,” said SJCOG Executive Director Diane Nguyen. “Every time someone gets out of a single occupant vehicle to use a carpool, vanpool, public transit or other cleaner mode of transportation, it makes a difference.”
There’s more to dibs than vanpools.
“dibs offers tools and services such as multimodal trip planner and app, Emergency Ride Home program, employer and community outreach, transit information and planning,” said SJCOG Communications Manager Yvette Davis, who oversees the dibs program. “We also promote biking and walking as a viable and healthy transportation option by organizing the annual Bike Month campaign to encourage commuters to get out of their cars and take advantage of the amenities and bike infrastructure developed throughout the county.”
Helping San Joaquin County commuters get to where they need to be more efficiently and cleanly is important since 53 percent of those commuters travel outside the county for work. Commuters traveling to the San Francisco Bay Area make up 27 percent of San Joaquin County workers traveling outside the county, 6.6 percent travel to the Sacramento area, 5.6 percent travel to Stanislaus County, and 13.8 percent travel to other areas for jobs.
Learn more about dibs and a complete list of services by visiting dibsmyway.com or its Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter pages.