Melissa Fahrenbruch admits she used to poke fun at her vanpooling co-worker in Kansas. Then she moved to metro Atlanta and faced heavy traffic and high gas prices. When she heard her new colleagues at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention talking about vanpooling one morning, she decided to give it a try and asked to join.

Since then, she’s loved the last year and a half she’s spent vanpooling to work. She says the camaraderie is the best part, even better than the more than $1,500 she saves each year thanks to her clean commute.

Her van is an eclectic group, sharing lots of laughs and good times as they whiz past the gridlock, and occasionally even a few bumpy times. Together, they’ve celebrated the birth of a new baby, and enjoyed a laugh when one rider chased down the departing van because she was late one morning. Another rider experienced the loss of a beloved pet, and the group pulled together to support her. “It goes beyond the van,” says Melissa.

When she started vanpooling, Melissa called her old friend in Kansas and apologized. Melissa’s new opinion on vanpooling: “People think it’s difficult, but once you try it, you’re hooked!”