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The Van: A Co-op on Wheels |
By Ashley Symons, Marketing Writer & Van Maintenance Coordinator
When I moved from Michigan to Massachusetts to start my job at Equal Exchange, I decided to live in Jamaica Plain (JP),  a neighborhood of Boston, rather than closer to the office in West Bridgewater - about a 40-minute commute. I was informed about "The Van," a 15-passenger vehicle I could pay to ride to work with other Equal Exchange employees living in JP.
I got in touch with one of the van poolers to find out the pick-up spot for my first day. He told me my stop would be just past an overpass, in front of an unmarked building. I tried to ask for an address - or something, anything, that would clue me into the exact location so that I wouldn't miss The Van on my first day. "Just yell 'power to the farmers' until someone responds," he told me. I did not do that, but fortunately, I found the spot. It was a fitting introduction to The Van: a silly, slightly chaotic, yet perfectly organized operation. |
In the beginning
The van pool started in August 2004 when Equal Exchange headquarters relocated from Canton, Mass., to West Bridgewater, Mass. Prior to the move, most Boston-based employees had the ability to use a commuter rail train service to get to work. But since West Bridgewater does not have a train or bus station, employees had to find other ways to get to work.
"As many of us did not own vehicles, and as we had grown accustomed to public transportation, the idea of everyone commuting individually in their own cars sounded both economically unfeasible and quite frankly, pretty unpalatable to our lifestyles," said Aaron Dawson, Equal Exchange Interfaith Customer Service Manager and one of the original members of The Van. "We looked at different possibilities - from car pooling to getting some kind of vehicle to pick us up at the nearest train station, or taking a train to a bus, or a bus to another bus - but all of these ideas seemed either too expensive or too time consuming or both. And then, out of nowhere, a co-worker threw out the idea of leasing a van through the Massachusetts ride-sharing program, Mass Rides."
Most people thought it would never work. "When this idea was first floated, my initial reaction was that it was the craziest idea I had ever heard of," Dawson said. "I mean, 15 of us leasing a van from the state - trying to figure out who would drive it, where we would park it, not to mention what would happen if something went wrong with the van ... to me, it was really not a viable option - it was like, 'oh that's a funny idea, it'll never work, but it's a great idea.'"
But the van plans moved ahead, despite the challenges. "I think that in the beginning, there was a lot of figuring out to do, a lot more meetings, a lot more feeling our way through the process, drafting rules and making sure that we had enough room to bring in new members," said Dawson. "But it felt like we were really starting something."
A co-op on wheels
And they were. "Five years later, it's still going strong," Dawson said. This is largely thanks to the way the van has been organized; nearly every rider has a role. There are drivers, a treasurer, a maintenance coordinator, and a scheduler. We've even tried to get a Friday-morning-coffee-and-bagels-coordinator, but that one is still in the works.
"At this point it feels like the van pool is an eternal entity, like it's now permanent," Dawson said. "Even as people come and leave the van pool, the culture seems to be pretty well cemented."
He's right about the culture. There are certain unstated but recognized rules - like don't talk in the mornings because people are sleeping, reading, or meditating; if you bring food on the van, be prepared to share; and most importantly, don't ever be late because The Van does not wait. We talk about how Equal Exchange can transform the world, debate best bands from the late 1980s, and contemplate, well, things I can't mention here. We're like a weird, sometimes dysfunctional family that, at the end of the day, actually loves one another.
"The things I like most about the van is the ability in the morning to just get in, listen to my iPod and read, and not have to really worry about driving or fighting traffic - I can just sit back and relax. And in the afternoons, I like to be able to hang out in the back of the van and catch up with other van pool members. It's a very cohesive entity, the van pool, and it definitely helps me feel closer to my co-workers."
Together, we make The Van functional. During one point in our commute, it takes multiple people coaching the driver across four traffic-filled lanes, or else we'd miss our exit. "If this isn't team building, I don't know what is," joked Jessie Myszka, Directora of Warehouse Operations and another of the original van poolers.
And that pretty much sums it up: even on The Van, we can't help but be cooperative. It's just who we are at Equal Exchange - every mile of the way.
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Our Co-op 
