Coming up on my one-year anniversary in my carpool, I recently wrote a post about how it is saving me $6,800/year according to this cost calculator. (I have a 100 mile round trip, and five carpool partners). I’m also saving a lot of carbon emissions, and arriving at work and back at home sweeter and less stressed than if I were driving alone.
In Part I I’ll address getting a carpool up off the ground, and this weekend in Part II I’ll give tips on keeping your carpool active and healthy over time.
Look first for an existing carpool to join (If your route is common, it’s probably easier and faster than starting one from scratch). Search both by word of mouth (the most common way people find carpools) and by registering in a carpool match database (the way I found my great carpool). Ask coworkers, neighbors and friends, “Who do you know that carpools?”. Follow up promptly on leads; phone calls work better than emails here (but do both). An existing carpool has already built a plan that’s working; mine has been operating more than ten years, and I call it the Old Growth carpool (remember I live in Oregon 
. Just keep in mind you’ll probably need to defer to the system that’s been working for the established carpool, rather than them deferring to you.
Start your own carpool. If you can’t jump into an existing ‘pool, start your own. Tell everyone, including via email, that you’re looking to save money and share the ride, and tell them your general home and work locations, and the times that you start and finish work. A colleague of mine learned in a chance weekend chat with a friend of a friend that they commuted to and from the same place at the same time. They have been a happy, twice weekly carpool ever since. By the far the most common size of carpool is two people, and that’s likely how you’ll start, but I advocate three or more, because you save more money on gas, save more carbon emissions and extend the life of your car farther as you drive less. Some members may only ride with the group 1-3 days per week.
Organize and negotiate. Shall everyone take turns driving? That’s what my six-member carpool does, hence no gas money needs to change hands. If a member doesn’t have a car, agree on how much that person pays for gas, and when, and then stick to it. We take turns reimbursing the member who pays the monthly parking fee (which is discounted because we’re a carpool). Where shall you meet, at what time? It’s normal to find a “park and ride” spot rather than be picked up at your door. If someone is late, at what point would you need to leave without them? More organizing tips here. It’s common for people to flex their schedules somewhat to make a carpool work, for example, arriving at work a bit earlier than they otherwise would.
Have reasonable expectations, i.e., no carpool can meet all your needs all the time. For instance, each member of my carpool uses the pool 2-4 times a week, and teleworks or drives alone on the other days due to early or late meetings. Or members may be out for a whole week with business travel or a family crisis. The carpool meets some commuting needs, but not others.
Allow for some experimentation and trial-and-error. It might take awhile to work the bugs out. The meeting spot will need to be changed, or the departure time tweaked, and a member may drop out, with a new member ‘auditioning’. In my ‘pool we’ve sometimes found ourselves waiting a bit too long for one or more members to arrive at the car in the evening. A friendly email suggesting we levy $1 fines for lateness to put into a party fund seems to have inspired more promptness.
Flexibility is key, but basic responsibility is generally not negotiable: either showing up, or communicating to the ‘pool promptly that you are ‘out’ that day. Carpool members have to be responsible — I can’t imagine it working without that piece.
Part II is coming up soon.
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