Commuter Connections is a regional network of transportation organizations coordinated by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments. If you live or work in the Metropolitan Washington D.C. area, Commuter Connections can provide you with information on all your commute options, so you can make a smart choice about how you travel to work. Commuter Connections also helps employers establish commuting benefits and assistance programs, including telework/telecommute programs, for their employees.
Commuter Connections was originally created in 1974 as the Commuter Club, providing one of the first computerized carpool matching systems in the nation. The Commuter Club network consisted of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG), General Services Administration (GSA), and the Greater Washington Board of Trade. COG provided the direct ridematching services to the public. This service was and still is provided free to anyone who requests ridematching information. In the 1980’s, the local government agencies of City of Alexandria, Fairfax County, Montgomery County, Prince William County, and the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission joined the network. The Commuter Club network members used COG’s ridematching software and shared one regional database for ridematching. It was in the mid-1980’s that the network changed its name to the RideFinders Network.
By 1994 the network had grown in membership to include all Washington D.C. area local governments, a few federal agencies, several Transportation Management Associations, and government agencies from the Baltimore area, southern Maryland, and northern Virginia.
In 1996 and 1997, the services provided by the RideFinders Network had grown beyond just carpool/vanpool matching to include transit route and schedule information, a regional Guaranteed Ride Home program, bicycle to work information, park-and-ride lot and HOV lane information, telecommute/telework program assistance, InfoExpress commuter information kiosks, commuter information services through our Internet site, and employer services. It was in 1996 that the network changed its name to Commuter Connections.
All services are provided free to the public and employers. Visit commuterconnections.org to learn more about their services. You may find a “smarter way to work.”
Commuter Connections is a program of the National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board at the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments and is funded by the District, Maryland and Virginia Departments of Transportation as well as the U.S. Department of Transportation. Many of the local Commuter Connections members receive grant funding directly from their respective state government.