North County Is Chosen as Ride-Sharing Test Ground : Commuting: A two-year pilot program offers $125 in cash, a $100 child-care bonus and guaranteed rides home in emergencies.

Antelope and Santa Clarita valley commuters will be eligible for cash payments up to $225 if they switch to van pools for at least three months under a new ride-sharing incentives program, the first of its kind in Los Angeles County and possibly the state.

The offer will apply only to commuters from the northern part of the county who work elsewhere in the area or in Burbank, Pasadena or Glendale. County officials said they chose those commuting corridors for the pilot program because those commuters have almost no alternatives to using private cars.

“The whole idea is to get people out of their cars and into ride-sharing. Once they try it for three months, they’re usually hooked,” said Carol Redfern, regional manager for Commuter Transportation Services Inc., a publicly funded group better known as Commuter Computer.

The program, slated to last for two years, has a $143,000 budget that can accommodate up to 500 new van pool participants, and will be run by Commuter Computer. The project, backed by the County Transportation Commission, is being jointly funded by Commuter Computer, the county and the cities of Lancaster, Palmdale and Santa Clarita.

Under the program, eligible commuters who switch to van pools will get a $125 payment after three months. Those commuters who have a child in a licensed child- care, preschool or after-school program will get an added $100. Commuters are eligible for only one payment during the program.

Because commuters often complain they want to van pool but fear getting stuck at work in the event of unexpected overtime or a family emergency, the pilot program also will offer participants a limited number of free rides home in such cases.

Redfern said $125 is a typical one-month fee for a van pool ride from the Antelope or Santa Clarita valleys to the foothill communities, which can be up to 120 miles round-trip. The $100 was added for those with child-care worries because they are often reluctant to ride-share, she said.

“This program, in the way it’s set up, has never been done before,” Redfern said. If successful, she said, similar incentives could be offered in other areas of the county. Local officials have been pushing ride-sharing because it reduces air pollution and traffic congestion.

Many private employers offer rides home to van pool participants. And Caltrans has offered van pool discount coupons worth $100 over several months to ease traffic during several freeway construction projects. But John Wolf, chief of the state Department of Transportation’s traffic improvements office, said he knew of no program offering a child-care bonus, and none that combined a payment and a guaranteed ride home in emergencies.

The Commuter Computer program will be retroactive for those who have joined van pools since January. Commuters must have proof that they have met the requirements, and some other restrictions apply. Car pools are not eligible, and neither are commuters who live in the foothill communities.