To Dee Boeck, it just doesn’t add up.

The Lawrence woman is among more than 200 state employees who are losing their ride to work because the state is discontinuing a “vanpool” program that transports workers to Topeka from Lawrence and other towns surrounding the state capital.

The reason: increasing government efficiency.

“The original intent of the program was to promote conservation of petroleum resources, reduce traffic and parking congestion, and diminish air pollution,” said Boeck, who rides the van to work in the Attorney General’s Office. “I fail to see how, at this time, eliminating such a worthwhile program would ‘improve the efficiency of Kansas government.'”

But that’s the explanation given in a memorandum to the riders from D. Keith Meyers, director of facilities management for the Kansas Department of Administration.

In his memo, Meyers wrote that “in an effort to improve the efficiency of Kansas government,” the vanpool program would be phased out as each van in the program reached “retirement mileage” of 95,000 miles.

Based on those parameters, Boeck says her van probably won’t be retired for another two years. The van that transports her has around 35,000 miles on it. But she still questions why the program is being phased out.

Nicole Corcoran, a spokeswoman for Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, said 264 riders across the state would be affected. Employees first received notice in November, she said, to allow them time to make different arrangements.

But besides questioning the reasons for the move, some state workers are wondering whether the cutback will affect their livelihoods.

Kansas Vanpool Information

“It could make the difference of me being able to work in Topeka or not,” said Michael Pomes, an environmental geologist who rides the van from Lawrence every day to his job at the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.

Pomes said riders on about 20 vans in the pool pay their share of gas, mileage and turnpike expenses required to keep the program running. He said the average bill for riders on the Lawrence van was $40 a month. If he has to drive his car to work, parking at the KDHE garage in Topeka, he said, will cost him $52 a month, and he’ll face competition for the spaces.

“Paying for gas and vehicle upkeep will make working in Topeka too expensive for me as well,” Pomes said.

Boeck said a meeting for all van riders was scheduled for noon Wednesday in Conference Room A of the Landon State Office Building in Topeka.

— Staff writer Scott Rothschild contributed to this report.