Representative Mike Thompson (D-CA) books a Real-Time Rideshare in an all-electric Tesla Roadster
At the beginning of this month, Mike Thompson, representative of California’s First Congressional District, attended a Real-Time Ridesharing event, hosted by WeGo Sonoma, in Santa Rosa California. The event marked the beginning of the WeGo Sonoma beta testing phase for commuters traveling northbound on Highway 101 from Petaluma to Santa Rosa. The project is the first of three test environments rolling out in the San Francisco Bay Area this year which will offer commuters an efficient, affordable and flexible alternative to commuting alone.
Following a presentation by Paul Steinberg of Avego, Congressman Thompson booked a Real-Time Rideshare through Santa Rosa in an all-electric, California-made Tesla Roadster.
Congressman Thompson said he was “very impressed with how easy it was” to ride RTR and said he thinks Avego Real-Time Ridesharing “will reduce traffic congestion and save energy”. Rep. Thompson is a proponent of alternative and renewable energy as well as “greening the tax code”. When asked how Real-Time Ridesharing could support these issues, Thompson said, “it’s no secret that we have serious transportation challenges and this is one piece of the puzzle in trying to fix it.”
Watch a video of the event here
WeGo Sonoma was the first of three Counties in the San Francisco Bay Area to have active users in their Real-Time Ridesharing pilot, with WeGo Marin and WeGo Contra Costa going live later this year. WeGo Rideshare is a three-County pilot project, administered by the MTC, and implemented by Avego in conjunction with Sonoma County Transportation Authority (SCTA) and Climate Protection Campaign (CPC) in Sonoma County, Transportation Authority of Marin (MTC) and Contra Costa Transportation Authority (CCTA).
Tesla was founded in 2003 by a group of intrepid Silicon Valley engineers who set out to prove that electric vehicles could be awesome. The Tesla Roadster is now driven emissions-free in 32 countries. They aim to help lessen global dependence on petroleum-based transportation and drive down the cost of electric vehicles.