From left to right: Grand Prize Winner Rhonda (Guenther) Nickle, VPSI’s Dawn Mayfield and SRP's Transportation Coordinator Juana Hernandez posing in front of SRP's Information Systems Building.

VPSI completed customer satisfaction surveys for 2009 in December. We surveyed three important customer groups; drivers, riders and influencers. As an incentive to complete the surveys we held a giveaway prize contest for all respondents.

From the group of drivers and riders, three prize winners were randomly drawn. The grand prize was a wide screen HDTV. From the group of influencers, eight winners were randomly chosen to receive prizes.

Congratulations to Rhonda (Guenther) Nickle, who was the Grand Prize winner of the 42” Plasma HDTV. Rhonda received her TV the week before the Super Bowl and friends and family quickly invited themselves over to watch the Big Game with her. Her son came over and hooked everything up right away so she could enjoy the whole experience. She went from a very small TV to this huge Wide-Screen TV and is truly enjoying it!

Rhonda has been riding in her vanpool for about 7 years.

Congrats to all of the winners:

Driver/Rider Grand Prize - Samsung 42″ Plasma Wide-Screen HDTV
Rhonda (Guenther) Nickle, Phoenix, Arizona

Driver/Rider First Prizes - Garmin Nuvi-265WT Travel Assistant
Armando Diaz, Sun City, California
Norman Lao, Irvine, California

Influencer Grand Prizes - Phillips Digital Photo Frame
Lisa Kay Schweyer, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Sherry Imhof, Fort Monmouth, New Jersey

Influencer First Prizes - Hammond Atlas of the World
Don Watt, Cedar Knolls, New Jersey
Madelyn Robinson, Pasadena, California
Marvin Pratt, Chico, California
Bridget Brennan, Ontario, California
Bob Robertson, Cocoa, Florida
Lori Sablas, Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii

At last count, there were almost 110,000 “apps” for the ubiquitous iPhone, with several thousand of them devoted to traveling and getting around. The boss wouldn’t approve the time to try out all of them, but we did give more than a few a test run. Not surprisingly, some were better than others – and some were way better.

Below are five of the coolest apps we found that make traveling a little easier and more fun. If you’ve discovered your own, share them with us and the rest of your fellow vanpoolers!

1. Where – It’s one of the most popular travel-related apps and for good reason – Where is a virtual travel guide that provides detailed information on restaurants, gas stations and tourist spots all overlaid on a GPS-located map. If you’re in an unfamiliar city, it is an invaluable resource that helps you get around and find the best things to see. Better yet, it’s a free app.

2. Monocle – Here’s the deal: Take an iPhone 3G S uploaded with Yelp’s latest app and shake it three times. That activates the Monocle feature, which provides on-screen information for just about anything the phone is pointed at – be it the Golden Gate Bridge or a corn field. It’s not all-knowing, but it’s fascinating to see what it recognizes and the information it calls up.

3. Flashlight – It’s so simple, but oh-so helpful…A free app that brightly fills the iPhone screen to provide helpful illumination. You can choose from the brightest white or a variety of subdued colors and the feature even allows you to adjust the brightness of the light by sliding your finger across the screen. We love this feature for map reading and finding the right door key in the dark.

4. How Fast – By leveraging the GPS-guided location feature built into your iPhone, this app tells you how fast the bus, train or boat you’re traveling on – and even your vanpool van – is going, allowing you to more precisely gauge your travel times. It even works for slower modes of transport, such as bicycles. (It’ll work on airplanes, but when the attendant says turn off electronic devices, you’ll have to turn off this app, too.)

5. SodaSnap Postcards – This free app converts any photo on your iPhone into a clever postcard format, complete with a space to write a “wish you were here” note. Along with sending it to friends and family, you can also share it openly and view others’ postcards from around the world. You can even include a Google Maps link for subject of your postcard image. The Postman app does pretty much the same thing, but it costs a whopping 99 cents.

Are there any other awesome apps you’ve tried?

Did your city make either list? Best cities for commuters include Tucson, Pittsburgh and Tulsa. Those unfortunately commuting in cities like Los Angeles, Houston and Dallas would probably agree with Forbes decision to put them on the worst list.

From left to right: Julie, Michelle, Mike, Sonya, Mary Ellen, Nelson

By Michelle, Pasadena, California

I  would like to tell you about the best VPSI vanpool.

Our group has  been together for about a year and a half. We commute 20 miles one way in the Southern California traffic. That means we can be in the van together between 30 and 70 minutes each way (depending on the day of the week and the weather). Our group has grown to be an extended family as we talk, nap or laugh all the way to and from work. We have even celebrated our vanpool anniversary, retirements, birthdays and holidays together as a family.

In May 2009 I had a seizure at home that prevented me  from driving for six months. If not for vanpooling, I don’t know how I would have gotten to work everyday. When I was cleared by the DMV to drive again, my vanpoolers would casually make sure I drove out of the parking lot first, then follow me, just to make sure I was doing okay behind the wheel (no one told me this was happening for several months).

On January 20, 2010, while napping, I had a seizure in the van on the way to work. I was unconscious for 20 minutes, but my vanpool members didn’t panic. Instead they sprang into action calling 911, calling my husband and crossing over the double yellow line to get out of the carpool lane and  meet an ambulance. Everyone took care of me and for that I am truly thankful. As the ambulance backtracked to the hospital, with a fellow vanpooler escorting me, the van continued on to work. But the thoughtfulness didn’t stop there. The van continued on to work, dropped off several riders and then the driver went back to the hospital to check on  me and pick up the other rider who rode with me to the hospital. How do  you say thank you to people who so selflessly take care of you in a situation like this?

Now, when I fall asleep in the van, I am kept under close watch in the driver’s rearview mirror by my extended family.

The following post was written by Wendy Jonaitis from Queen Creek, Arizona. It was originally submitted to our iPhone contest, but it was so enjoyable that we had to share it with our readers.

I used to be a primary driver for our vanpool and every time that I would look in the the rear view mirror, I would see all of the riders’ eyes closed, each in a deep sleep. I would also think, “Man they really really trust me and my driving.” This would make me feel so good inside that I could have ten sleeping passengers and arrive to and from work safely.

Now that I am a passenger again it is my turn to do the sleeping.

In a recent Automotive-Fleet.com market trends blog, Mike Antich writes, “The investment banks of Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley predict $100 per barrel or higher price for crude oil in 2011.”  The last time crude reached $100-per-barrel, the pump price was between $3.25 and $3.50 per gallon. Once the price of crude went above $110, the price jumped to $3.75 - $4.10 per gallon.

Over the past few months, gas prices have been hovering around $2.50 per gallon. But they always seem to rise during the summer months.

Last week we put up a post titled 5 Things You Didn’t Know About America’s Roads, and this week we’re back with 5 more things. Do you know of any other random or obscure facts about America’s roads?

1. Texas has the most Interstate miles, with 3,233.45 of them among 17 routes.

2. There is a rhyme and reason to Interstate and national highway numbers: East-west routes have even numbers and north-south routes have odd numbers. The Interstates were numbered higher for the northern routes and get smaller on southern routes; and north-south routes have larger numbers in the east and grow smaller in the west – such as I-95 on the east coast and I-5 on the west coast.

3. Concrete road surfaces generally last longer that asphalt, but they typically generate more road noise. Because asphalt is produced with petroleum, more road builders are finding ways to make concrete surfaces quieter so that they can use it more.

4. A couple of years ago, as part of an advertising promotion, Honda had grooves cut into a highway in Lancaster, California. When cars drove over them, the tune from The William Tell Overture played.

5. Bobby Troup composed the song “Route 66” after driving the road with his wife. She suggested the famous line, “Get your kicks on Route 66.”

5.5. (Our honorable mention) Michigan’s M-185 is the only state highway in the country that does not allow cars. Foot traffic, bicycles and horse-drawn carriages are the only traffic allowed on the eight mile road that circles Mackinac Island.

Image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cletch/ / CC BY 2.0

The Overton Brooks VA Medical Center (OBVAMC) is located in the northwestern corner of the state of Louisiana in Shreveport. It is a rural area with light traffic where commuting to work takes no more than 15-20 minutes. When OBVAMC launched the vanpool program in late 2009, one group readily joined the program to enjoy their free ride to work. As Chris Moore, the Driver/Coordinator of VPSI’s first vanpool at OBVAMC observed, “It is the best kept secret here and employees are slowly learning about it. We simply love it!” Currently, a couple new groups are in the works.

OBVAMC recently won three Green Globe Awards from the Green Building Initiative. To find out more visit here.