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Carpooling is full of benefits for you and the environment. You'll reduce carbon emissions, get to know some co-workers around your neighborhood, and enjoy the thrills of racing past morning commuters in the carpool lane, where the living is easy. How to carpool will help you link up with other carpoolers and start a carpool of your own.
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Carpooling is full of benefits for you and the environment. You'll reduce carbon emissions, get to know some co-workers around your neighborhood, and enjoy the thrills of racing past morning commuters in the carpool lane, where the living is easy. How to carpool will help you link up with other carpoolers and start a carpool of your own.
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Step 1: Find Fellow Carpoolers
- You can't very well carpool all by yourself.
- Start at work: try sending out an email to gauge interest in a new carpool. Mention where you live and what time you generally go to and from work.
- If you're having trouble finding people to carpool at work, try talking to your boss or human resources department to come up with an incentive program (preferential parking, a monthly gift certificate to a local restaurant, etc.).
- If you're a student, try posting on a community message board (either real or virtual).
- Once you've checked in with your regular work or school community, try free services like eRideShare or iCarpool to find drivers with similar routes and schedules. Simply type in where you live, and you'll be able to access a host of options for nearby routes.
- Try posting a request for fellow carpoolers on Craigslist. There is a "Rideshare" section under the Community header where you can place your listing.
- Social networking mecca Facebook also has a Carpool application through which you can find folks looking to carpool where you live.
Step 2: Set Up a Schedule
- Your carpool will succeed if you come up with a regular schedule and stick to it.
- Questions you'll want to answer with your group include:
- What time do we want to arrive at work/school/etc.?
- Do we want to divide the driving by day, by week, or on an otherwise rotating schedule?
- Or, will we use one car and one driver to whom we pay money for gas and maintenance?
- How many days per week will the carpool run? Just one or two days or every day?
- Are there any days we don't want to carpool because of a pre-existing commitment?
- You may wish to agree to a test run of a week or two weeks to see how the schedule is working out. You can then make adjustments if necessary.
- You should also determine your designated pick-up point, whether it's a public parking lot or if drivers will provide door-to-door service.
- This is also the time to double check that your insurance coverage will be adequate to cover the additional passengers in your car.
Step 3: Create Rules
- A carpool is a wonderful thing until Joe from accounting starts lighting up and playing Metallica (at a deafening volume) every time it's his turn to drive.
- It's important to set some critical groundrules in advance with your carpool so no one is offended. Things to consider include:
- Smoking
- Music (and volume!)
- Food and drink
- Unscheduled stops
- Work gossip
- Talking on cell phones
- You should also decide how long to wait for someone who is late. Carpool experts recommend waiting no longer than 3-5 minutes.
- But avoid honking the horn and irritating neighbors.
- Decide how you'll handle a carpool member who is chronically late, as this can really disrupt your carpool (and your punctuality).
- Come up with a chain of communication in case someone is ill or not going to work. Will you arrange for a replacement driver or shift the schedule?
- Make sure fellow carpoolers know as soon as possible if you won't be driving your standard days for vacation, illness, or other reason.
- Determine among your carpool how to handle expenses. If one person does the majority of the driving, how should she be reimbursed for car maintenance?
- Be sure to keep cars in good working condition and that they are clean, too.
- Finally, consider your fellow riders when deciding on that extra spritz of perfume or that garlic bagel in the morning.
Conclusion
- Starting a carpool can help you form surprisingly long-lasting relationships. Not only are you saving money and reducing car pollution, you might make your daily commute much more enjoyable. The key to a good carpool, like in every relationship, is some give and take. So enjoy driving in the fast lane with your new-found carpoolers and try to spread the word at your school or office!
