Metro Transit has a solution for rising gas prices: Vanpools.

There are more than 1,050 vanpools in King County, and the number continues to increase, Metro officials said. In May alone, 23 new vanpools were formed, and Metro was expecting another 30 new starts in June.

As of June 1, Metro had 889 vanpools on the road.

Metro provides the vehicle, rider-support services, maintenance, insurance, fuel and tires. Riders provide the driver and pay a monthly fee to participate. Fees are split among group members and are based on round-trip mileage and the number of riders in the van.

Vanpool groups range from five to 15 people who are co-workers or work in the same vicinity.

The southeast King County area is one of Metro’s biggest areas for vanpooling, according to Linda Thielke, a Metro spokeswoman.

Lin Chen, a Kent-area resident, participates in a vanpool with a group of six co-workers that meet at the south Federal Way park-and-ride and commute

to Enumclaw. Chen said she has participated in similar programs for more than 10 years. She is partly motivated by incentives from her employer, Mutual of Enumclaw, which contributes $65 monthly for employees who participate in vanpool programs.

After her employer’s contribution, Chen said, she pays $27 monthly to participate in the program. She saves about $125 in gas each month.

Gas isn’t Chen’s only motive for participating in the vanpools.

“Basically,” she said, van poolers enjoy “the leisure time” during rides. “You can read in the van. You can listen to your own music with headphones. Sometimes we chat.”

Participants also get a good parking spot, Chen noted.

Metro officials estimate that the vanpool program, which is the oldest and largest in the nation, removes roughly 5,000 cars from the road daily and eliminates 16,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions from the air annually.

Metro’s vanpool program is the oldest and largest in the nation.

Vanpool members volunteer to drive and fuel the vans, keep them clean and schedule maintenance and repair work.

According to Metro, one new vanpool driver wrote recently that “we are loving it. I come to work so relaxed and smiling each morning. You should feel good about the fact that you have made eight people’s lives so much better.”

More information about the vanpool program is available at www.rideshareonline.com and 1-800-427-8249.

King County isn’t the only place where vanpools are popular. Statewide, more than 15,000 people are registered for such programs.