Learn About Carpooling
Carpooling is a great way to cut driving costs, save time, and reduce stress. It also helps keep the air we breathe cleaner, lowers greenhouse gas emissions and reduces both traffic and parking congestion.
Find a carpool buddy!
UC Riverside partners with IE Commuter to help employees find a carpool partner. Choose to drive or ride, and match with people based on route and time of day.
Register online for a free IE Commuter account and they will match you up with others interested in sharing a ride with people who live and work near you with similar hours. You may also qualify for County sponsored subsidies.
Incentives
Faculty and staff with a minimum 50% appointment or full-time graduate students are eligible to participate in the Carpool program. Applicants must travel together a minimum of 3 days a week for more than 50% of their total commute to campus. Applicants may not live in campus housing or within a one mile radius of campus.
You must enroll in R’Commute (Alternative Transportation Program) to receive incentives. Registered carpoolers will receive a complimentary Blue 10-Pack parking permit each quarter. Eligibility of incentives is subject to verification using University electronic records.
Learn more about the Program Rules & Eligibility.
Carpool Permit
- One parking permit is issued to a carpool. A carpool can consist of any combination of eligible participants (faculty/staff/graduate students).
- All Carpool participants are responsible for a portion of the parking permit cost. The monthly parking permit fee is processed through payroll deduction or a student business services account.
- Parking lot assignments are based on space availability. Wait lists are maintained for high demand locations.
- Carpool parking permits are discounted at 1/2 the cost of the Blue or Red parking permit rate.
Emergency Ride Home Program
Take the worry out of ridesharing. Faculty or staff enrolled in the Carpool Program are eligible to participate in the Regional Guaranteed Ride Home Program offered through IE Commuter. The program reimburses you for up to two emergency rides per year when using Lyft, Taxi, or Uber to get home in an emergency. The program is intended for personal and family emergencies or unscheduled overtime at the request of your supervisor. It is not available for rides to work, scheduled appointments or planned overtime.
For complete program rules go to IE511.org
To arrange for an Emergency Ride Home:
- Arrange your own ride home via Lyft, Uber, Taxi, or other such ride-hailing services.
- Save receipt(s). A 15% tip is allowed for reimbursement.
- Complete IE Commuter’s required Reimbursement Claim Form and scan/email to TAPS at alttransportation@ucr.edu to verify and provide the employer representative signature.
- TAPS will return to you the signed form along with a blank W9 which is required from IE Commuter to cut a check.
- Complete the W9 and submit along with the signed Reimbursement Claim Form directly to IE Commuter for reimbursement. You will be provided their address, email and phone number.
- You are allowed up to two emergency rides each fiscal year (July 1-June 30).
For further details, call Transportation Services at (951) 827-8277.
Requires minimum of 3 undergrads to register as carpool. The carpool would be permitted to park in non-reserved and non-marked spaces located in the Big Springs 2 Parking Structure.
- All participants must be undergrad commuter students living 3+ miles from campus who travel along the same route.
- Each member of the carpool would be required to enroll at TAPS in person for each quarter they participate. A quarterly permit must be paid for up front and be split between the members of the group.
- One carpool permit is issued per carpool. Anyone with a current parking permit will be required to return it. A refund or credit will be provided for any time left against the permit.
- The price of a regular Gold Parking Permit will be split between the number of passengers in the carpool group.
- The parking permit may be used by anyone in the group and a maximum of one vehicle per person can be registered to that permit. Members cannot purchase another monthly/quarterly permit in their name. If so, the carpool permit is automatically revoked.
- If a member cannot carpool on any given day they would be required to purchase a daily permit through the kiosk or purchase hourly parking via the ParkMobile app.