Started contacting bus/shuttle organizations – two have responded so far
(1) commute.org – San Mateo county public agency. The executive director circulated the draft proposal to the staff who came up with the recommendation to lobby Chariot, a subsidiary of Ford that seeks to establish private bus routes, because they should already have an additional number of people identified who commute from the coast to San Mateo and Foster City, which would increase our ‘interested’ list size (it’s 26 now).
(2) Bauers Transportation – A private transportation company. I was very surprised and pleased at how open an amendable the Bauers representative was to help. She recommended that there be no more then 2 stops, because it would take longer than an hour for the first people on the shuttle and they would stop participating. Most likely we would need two shuttles, because of the long distance along the coast. She provided some costs, which were typical of how much companies pay to bus their employees in from the east and south bay and were far too much for the average commuter to pay. Companies get tax benefits and comply with municipal traffic and parking regulations by busing in some employees. She also, independently, recommended that it would be less costly if we could convince Chariot to look into establishing a route.
I will continue to contact transportation organizations, but focus on Chariot. You can help if you choose by going to the site chariot.com and simply typing in your home and work address. If you do that let me know, Rick Nahass <ricknahass@yahoo.com>.