Park & Ride lots, rideshare to start next week in Leland

LELAND, NC (WWAY) — Leland commuters will have some more options to try and save some money and cut traffic to and from Wilmington in the new year.

The Wilmington Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) announced three Park & Ride lots will be available for public use in Leland starting Monday, Jan. 5. They will be at Brunswick Forest in front of Lowe’s Food, at Food Lion on Mt. Misery Road near US 74/76 and at the new Leland Town Hall. Signs will guide users to these lots.

Each of the Park & Ride lots has a bus stop along Wave Transit’s Brunswick Connector route and parking spaces specifically reserved for people who carpool, vanpool or use public transportation.

A rideshare matching program will also be available to match potential carpool participants and explore vanpool opportunities. To join the rideshare program, visit
www.sharetheridenc.org to register and set up a profile. A profile includes information about work and home locations, work schedule, driver/passenger preferences,
female/male preferences and smoker/non-smoker preferences. The information is used to match potential carpool candidates with the same locations, schedules and preferences.

According to the Wilmington MPO, these efforts are designed to reestablish the Transportation Demand Management
(TDM) program in an effort to provide alternative modes of transportation and reliance on the single-occupancy vehicles. The MPO says this was a high priority of Cape Fear Commutes 2035 Transportation Plan. The TDM Committee has developed a 10-year TDM plan to implement alternative modes of transportation in an effort to mitigate the growth of traffic congestion and provide enticing opportunities to get to and from work.