Comments on: Starting a Carpool

By: NP

NP — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 20:53:25 +0000

If you are a control freak, maybe you could offer to drive all the time if passenger(s) contribute(s) a set amount for the service. If the pool consists of more than 2 people, it might be okay to sleep on your non-driving days or to wear headphones or read to tune out obnoxious radio or recordings or people.

By: Sara Bee

Sara Bee — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 18:24:12 +0000

Call your state department of transportation. It is very likely they or someone they know has a car pool matching service.

An alternative is contacting the Association for Commuter Transportation. They have a list of local chapters and you may find local help more quickly that way.

actweb.org

By: Cindy B.

Cindy B. — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 16:57:28 +0000

I carpooled many years and enjoyed talking with the others during the drive. It also allowed me to sleep when I wasn’t driving. Realize that you can set any schedule that works for the group – it can be that you only carpool three or four days a week. It doesn’t have to be five. Also, we met at a meeting points – we didn’t pick up at people’s homes. We would have to change our meeting from an underused parking lot to next to a park to at the person closest to the freeway. We changed meeting points as members and our needs changed.
Finally, we had a strict waiting policy. Our meeting time was 6:15 and we left at 6:20. Otherwise, everyone was late to work – not just one.

By: divajean

divajean — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 16:38:36 +0000

When I carpooled, I was lucky. I found someone who lived fairly close to me and was agreeable to my just paying her what bus fare would have cost. The big savings to me was more in time- I didn’t have to bus downtown, transfer, then bus the rest of the way (an hour each way!) We let each other know changes in the schedule well in advance and din’t have any big problems.

By: Lauren

Lauren — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 14:41:47 +0000

There’s also a website called http://www.nuride.com where you can earn points for carpooling and taking public transit. There’s also a part that lets you look up other people around you to see if you want to carpool, but it sends the messages through the website, so that your personal information is not being given out. I take public transit everyday, and I like that it shows how much money I save and how many emissions I’m avoiding.

By: Rhonda

Rhonda — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 14:00:18 +0000

I’ve been in a carpool for almost seven years with two other women – we live pretty close to work so it’s about sharing the parking costs than the driving costs. One of our members emails out a calendar every month so that we can request to drive when we have appointments or meetings out of the office; she then uses that to make up the monthly schedule.

We also have an official meeting time and the “drop dead” time in the morning, after we can leave without you.

By: Personal Finance Student

Personal Finance Student — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 04:04:13 +0000

I think that you should schedule based on weeks – i.e. one person drives a whole week. Otherwise it could become very confusing. I would also suggest to start small. You can always add more people later if you want.

By: KC

KC — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 20:38:57 +0000

I’ve been in a carpool for about 4 years. I started out in a carpool with just one other person. That was great – but pretty expensive as we each live 60+ miles one way from work. When the gas shortage hit our state, Georgia, we upped the carpool to four people, a little bit more challenging adding two other personalities. But we added some rules, no more than 5 minutes late and a dollar a minute fine, goes toward breakfast every Friday. Also, no talking/texting for the driver. We each drive one week and if the driver is out, we have a designated buddy system where his/her backup is the driver for that day. Then the original driver drives a day for the backup. If a member has a prescheduled conflict, he/she drives in alone. We end up getting a gift card for $40-$60 every month if we meet certain ride share quotas thanks to the Clean Air Campaign and we have a Guaranteed Ride Home program. In four years, we’ve only used this twice. Both dealing with sick kids. I save a fortune and wouldn’t have it any other way because I genuinely like my carpool buddies. For those looking to carpool in Metro Atlanta, try Georgia RideShare.

By: Anthony

Anthony — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 20:09:04 +0000

Carpooling would be a good idea. However, I travel (locally) for work, so I need my own car! Oh well. There are plenty of other ways to save money.

By: Laura

Laura — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 19:56:55 +0000

I work a second job three days a week, so a girl in my office and I carpool two days a week, unless there are exceptions. It is amazing the difference in gas money just by driving to work 4 less days a month. PLUS (and this is huge in my area) we can take the High Occupancy Vehicle lanes, which also cuts 10 minutes off my commute both ways!

By: Henry

Henry — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 19:51:16 +0000

Be careful! Just because you’re not 16 anymore doesn’t mean what mom said about being careful who you ride with doesn’t apply anymore! I’d suggest an upfront list of behaviours that are unacceptable and are grounds for terminating the member. The list will be different for everyone, but could range from smoking in the car, drug use, drinking, applying makeup, eating, texting, sexting, using a non-hands free cell phone, or anything else you all think is dangerous.
And, as Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said, “Americans should park their recalled Toyotas unless driving to dealers for accelerator repairs,” so be careful if that’s the machine you’re getting into.

By: Shaun McGowan

Shaun McGowan — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 19:18:19 +0000

Carpooling is a practical idea ,I’m in a carpool with 3 friends and my brother. We rotate in different days. If you have good companies for car pooling it’s an advantage for your daily travel, but if they are not, you better drive alone.

By: Hope D

Hope D — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 18:49:22 +0000

I like the idea of carpooling. I used to carpool with the most annoying man. It was just us two. He was and arrogant, intellectual, agnostic(heavy on the arrogant). He would actually bring cassettes of speeches about agnosticism. He was also in a folk band and would play tapes of them. Everyone who knew him could not believe I could put up with him. Looking back, I can’t believe I put up with it either. I swear my ears bled.

By: Ruby Leigh

Ruby Leigh — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 18:44:35 +0000

Often times, Public Transit companies will assist you in coordinating your Ride Share. Look into that. I tried it out myself, and got $10 of free gas just for signing up and attempting.

By: Diane

Diane — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 18:40:12 +0000

I have a carpool that works really well (mostly). We meet at a local mall parking lot (out in the boonies, so no one minds) instead of picking each other up, as we are spaced at at distance on that end. We all work fairly close on a Univ. campus, so that works well. We also each drive for a week at a time – a schedule that is easier to keep up with (and since there are 4 of us – is just once a month). The only tricky parts are remembering who substituted for whom and if they were paid back – mostly it still works. We share a parking permit and still need to have daily permits when we need to drive outside of the carpool (appointments and the like). We mostly don’t listen to radio, and often don’t even talk much. I like daydreaming.

By: jim

jim — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 18:17:57 +0000

THere might be local or state organizations setup to help coordinate carpools.

Try searching google for your city or state and the word “carpool”. e.g. if you live in Chicago try for “chicago carpool” and “illinois carpool”

By: T

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 18:12:06 +0000

Couple of suggestions:

1> Try a rideshare network like http://www.nuride.com.

2> Take a look at http://commutergal.com/.

By: Karen J

Karen J — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 17:47:18 +0000

I have been a member of a van pool for just shy of a year and it is work pretty well for me. We have two pick up locations (at park and rides) in the suburbs and three drops in the city. We are a 14 passenger van, with 5 drivers. We have a set schedule, and we have a set policy of leaving on time (we do not wait for late people – and yes I have gotten left behind a couple of times). The van pool makes me have better time management skills at work because my time is truly limited. And if I have to stay late, I just drive myself – no one on the van pool cares.
My company will pay up to $120/month for my van pool expenses, and the rest (like 30 bucks) is taken out of my paycheck before taxes. If i take the van pool everyday in a month, I save almost $300 in gas, wear and tear on my car and tolls.
@IASSOS – As far as choosing the radio station – drivers choice! :-)

By: matt

matt — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 17:39:47 +0000

I agree with you brent, except for me its not just the weather and dress code (i have showers at work). But the fact that drivers here are nutjobs, and I dont feel safe biking on the roads I would have to take to work (no shoulders and no sidewalks 1 lane). Even when i used to live literally across the street from work I couldn’t walk because crossing a 6 lane state highway on foot with no crosswalks would be putting my life in murphy’s hands.

By: Money Reasons

Money Reasons — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 17:14:59 +0000

Hurray for Jenny!

Not only is her interest in carpooling helping her finances, but also all of ours! By Jenny going the route of trying to carpool, whe helps us by

1.) Cutting down on green house emissions
2.) Lessening our dependency on foreign oil
3.) Helping to keep the price of gas at a reasonable level.
4.) Helping the environment by not require her car to be worked or tires replaced as quickly (and potentially extending the life of the car).

Kudos to Jenny!

Not only am I a carpooling commenter, but I’m also a carpool participant (sometimes) :)