Denver’s Schoolpool

Operating under the Denver Regional Council of Governments Way to Go program, Schoolpool is a program designed to get students to and from school via carpool, mass transit, walking, or cycling, reducing the number of drive-alone trips taken by students and their families throughout the school year. Initial research revealed that the program would be most beneficial for campuses without an established bus service, though any school could benefit from the program as a major goal for many school administrators was to reduce the number of cars in their pick-up and drop-off lines. Using this information, school administrators, parents, and guardians became the program’s main targets, with an Outreach Specialist for the Schoolpool program meeting with schools to provide participating campuses with collateral, sales training, and selling points to utilize when pitching the program to families. Those enrolled in the program had the option of opting-in to Schoolpool’s online platform MyWaytoGo.org, which provided a safe and secure place for participants to connect and use maps developed by the program to identify nearby participating families and arrange for students to get to and from school together. As the program continued to run, Schoolpool explored ways to expand the carpool program by including options for families to coordinate evening or seasonal carpool depending on things like participation in after-school activities. The program set yearly targets for new schools and families enrolled and tracked participation on an ongoing basis. Schoolpool served 150 campuses and more than 19,000 families in the Denver region, resulting in an average reduction of 500 vehicle miles traveled per family per year.

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