The Driving, The Gas... Carpooling Is Key

Insider, Outsider, North Shore Family, Gold Coaster, Rural Resident... no matter. You’d have to be blind and bulletproof to be unaffected by today’s gas prices. And, while thankfully the kids are back in school, there are greater implications of doing the driving coupled with the routine of filling up.

Help Is Here

First, Think Ahead
School, Sports, Activities, Birthday Parties...
Nothing will guzzle your gas like doing all the driving.
It doesn’t even make sense. So if you notice a huge line up at school, or an event take action -- that’s the beauty and brilliance of carpooling.
Just find a group of people going your way and share the driving plus the cost of the gas.

Want to get an idea of how much you can save.

Click on the calculator

NorthShoreInsider.com shares these carpool tricks and tips:

The Designated Driver Carpool:
One Driver + One or More Passengers
Passengers agree to pay a daily, weekly or monthly fare for gas, maintenance or parking.

Ideal For:
Parents traveling to tournaments, out of town destinations like Six Flags or even in town when heading to Chicago for a bulls game, theatre or museum visits.

Alternating Carpool:
Multiple Drivers + One or More Passengers
Driving and expenses are shared on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis.
You pay when you drive; when you ride it’s free.

Ideal For:
Neighbors/friends going to the gym, attending kids’ games, Girl/Guys night out.

Corporate Carpool:
This is almost a no-brainer… find out how what your company does to encourage and organize carpooling.

Ideal For: ANY ONE driving to and from work alone with your thoughts or the radio. Ding, you’re a candidate.

Driving with someone you work with allows you to engage outside the walls of work life and build a relationship with a co-worker, employee or employer.

To start your own put a sign-up list in a in a high-traffic area, such as the company cafeteria’s bulletin board or find out what your companies intranet offers.

Look into and promote all the incentives and benefits to you carpool like preferred parking spots, cash incentives for participants or additional discounts for using a hybrid.

Senior executives -- set a good example and model top-down support.

Offer prizes for the most carpooled days and corporate-wide recognition for the winners.

Rules of The Road
Before you start you’ll want to iron out these details:

Create a list of phone numbers and email addresses
Figure out your cancellation process due to illness or family emergencies
Determine how to share costs
Will eating, drinking or smoking be allowed?
What kind of music will be on the dial and who has the authority to change it?
What about the shotgun passenger – Is there a rotation plan?
What’s about cleanliness and trash?
Are any stop offs or side trips allowed?
Who schedules?
Pick up and drop off process – issues with lateness or change in plans
What about left items in your car…like hats, sports equipment books.

Cost/Benefits
Its undeniable, carpooling means that you’ll have to be a bit more flexible – but here’s the thing, not only are you saving potentially thousands of dollars a year, you’re doing your share cut down on the obvious like traffic, pollution, and the less obvious issues of accidents parking and road rage.

Have a carpooling tip?
We’d love to hear it and share it.

Loren Greiff