At its late August meeting, the Amador Regional Transportation System Board of Directors quietly adopted a 100 percent fare increase for local transit customers.

It wasn't that there was nobody at the meeting - for weeks transit officials publicized the public hearing in local media, resulting in a full house interested in discussing ... the Pine Grove corridor project.

At the time, ARTS general manager Patrick Ireland said that despite - or possibly because of - a coordinated outreach campaign and rising gas prices, he had received "nothing but positive feedback" about the proposed hike to $2 per general fare that went into effect Sept. 1.

Though gas prices had temporarily stalled at that point, popular wisdom was that the cost of crude oil would eventually continue its historic ascent, driving commuters to consider alternative transportation options. A month and a half later, however, gas prices are continuing their freefall, and it's the uncertain economy that's keeping people away from their cars.

Reaping the benefit is Foothill Rideshare, a free online program that acts like a social networking site for commuters in Amador, Calaveras and Tuolumne counties, as well as the cities of Sacramento and Stockton. Born three years ago as a pilot project patterned after a successful program in San Joaquin County, it initially struggled to find traction, even with the modest goal of having people leaving their cars home one day a week. There were scant online sign-ups, and those who did join had trouble finding people with the same commutes as them.

But then gas prices went insane and people suddenly began signing up in chunks.

The Web site has reached close to 500 sign-ups, many of those from San Joaquin County, which has aggressively solicited major employers. That compares to around 200 sign-ups in 2005 when the program got its start under the name Foothill Commuter Services.

"We're in our third year now, so it's almost double," said program coordinator Renee Chapman.

The boon has happened for unmistakable reasons. Though alleviating traffic congestion, reducing air pollution and lessening vehicle wear-and-tear were advertised as benefits of the program, that's not what got Romeo Cua and Kris Pierce to sign up. The two county workers - Cua is an assistant civil engineer with the Amador County Public Works Department, while Pierce is executive secretary of the Amador Air District - began carpooling from Rancho Cordova in June. Every weekday morning, the two meet at a Park and Ride lot at the corner of Highway 16 and Sunrise and make their way northeast. They switch off driving duties, Cua in his Mitsubishi Lanser or Pierce behind the wheel of her Acura TSX.

Both readily admit it was gas prices, not altruism toward the environment, that drove them to consider ridesharing. And overall, they report being satisfied with the continuing experiment.

"It was the gas prices, definitely," Pierce said. "When I first heard about the program, I registered ... because I wanted to learn about it."

It was Cua who made the initial overture, finding Pierce online at the program's Web site and e-mailing her. He's since become familiar with other aspects of the program, helping Chapman set up signage at two nascent Park and Ride locations at the Busey parking lot in Jackson and a public parking square in Sutter Creek. His and Pierce's schedules don't line up exactly, with Cua due at work 30 minutes before Pierce and off 30 minutes earlier. Asked if that's an inconvenience, Cua said it's "just a minor one, sometimes the waiting, but the rest is OK." He enjoys relaxing on the drives home when he's not behind the wheel. Pierce enjoys that, too, saying ridesharing can be both preferable and inconvenient.

"It's wonderful at the end of the day when I don't have to drive. In the morning, when I'm running late, it's hell," she laughed. "And I like to run late."

Pierce lived several years in San Francisco, where she never needed a car. In a rural county like Amador, without streetcars, rapid transit or businesses within walking distance, not having a car can be a little restrictive. Strolling a couple of blocks for lunch is not an option at her office on New York Ranch Road, and on days when Pierce is delivering board packets or has an appointment, she needs to make sure she has her car. "It drives me crazy in the middle of the day," Pierce said about the limited lunch options. "And all they have is healthy food. Nothing else is available. I'm literally trapped in my office."

That half-serious complaint aside, Pierce and Cua are sticking with the current arrangement.

"There are a lot of really nice things about it, too," Pierce acknowledged. "Paying half the amount for gas is really nice."

Chapman happily rattles off the success stories. A Pine Grove man saving $1,200 a year on gas by riding his bicycle to work in Jackson. A vanpool of teachers bonding during their commute to Stockton. A group that gets to ride to work in a convertible with the top down on sunny days.

Sure, there are logistical challenges, she admitted. Packing a lunch, leaving on time, planning ahead - "you have to think a little," Chapman said. "With a slight change in thinking, it works completely."

And the program seems to be catching on. When gas prices stormed past $4 a gallon of regular unleaded earlier this year, Chapman said the Web site was averaging one sign-up per day. That has dropped down to about eight or nine a month, "which is still higher than it was before," she pointed out.

"People just don't care about the environment as they do their pocket books," Chapman joked. That's fine with her. "At least there's a shift in people thinking about it more."

There are the new Park and Ride lots in Jackson and Sutter Creek. At the suggestion of District 3 Supervisor Ted Novelli, the county conducted an e-mail survey to see whether there was interest in a vanpool that picks up county employees living upcountry. More than 100 people have pledged to rideshare since Oct. 1 when program facilitators started promoting Rideshare Week. Approximately half came from an employee sign-up day at the Jackson Rancheria earlier this month, Chapman said.

According to a consultant hired by the San Joaquin Council of Government, 43 percent of those who have signed up online for ridesharing are actually using it.

"I suggest they try it," Cua offered.

"If they don't like it," he added, reconsidering his words. "I'm sure they're going to like it."

Visit www.foothillrideshare.com for more information.