Third Time’s the Charm: The Joys of Carpooling

Daily, I have about a 30 mile drive each way to work.  In San Diego, having a car is a must with this sort of commute – it is very spread out & public transportation is lacking, especially in inland areas. I have been carpooling since August with my carpool buddy.  She & I alternate driving & are able to take advantage of the carpool lane for most of each trip, which affords us a huge time savings.  Yesterday was the first day in a while that I had driven into work by myself, because she was on vacation. This is the first time I have been successful in maintaining this sort of relationship for a substantial period of time.

Attempt 1: The Vanpool

Commuter Nightmare

When I was rehired in 2005 at my current job, I knew what I was in for as far as my commute.  So I decided  I would try to find an alternative to alleviate some of the time & gas I knew I was going to waste sitting in traffic, since I lived further away than during my previous stint.  At the time, via the SANDAG Ridelink website, now iCommute,  I found a vanpool with open spots for alternate riders, which was sponsored by Enterprise Rent-a-Car.  It was a pretty good deal, because I could pay as I rode, instead of paying a monthly rate like permanent riders.  Also, permanent riders had to commit to driving on a rotating schedule, which I wasn’t too keen on doing.  I would see what available days they had depending on if the permanent riders drove into work on their own or not.  Sometimes riders needed their vehicles to attend a meeting, to leave work early for a doctor’s appointment, or to take the day off.  Nonetheless, my role was to fill those days to keep the cost down for everyone.  At the end of the month, the vanpool leader would total the cost of renting the van & fueling it, then divide that by riders & the number of days each rode.

If you did not make the van by 7:05 AM, there was no mercy.  They did not wait for you.   I admit I was kind of  flaky, especially since I was considered an alternate rider.  On the other hand, the best memory I have about the vanpool was that I got to take a rest before returning to my car & embarking on my evening.  I didn’t have to get stressed about driving or pay much attention to traffic.  I feel sorry for the other riders who had to witness me “catching flies”, while I was taking a quick, yet refreshing, cat nap on the journey north.  I regret not taking it more seriously, but it just wasn’t meant to be, I suppose.

Tip: If you’re in a vanpool & not the socializing type, be sure to take a book to read, pretend to sleep, or better yet, strap on your iPod & shut out the chitter chatter.  Some people just need to talk & ask you about your personal details.

Attempt 2: Carpooling with Co-workers

Two of my coworkers approached me about carpooling, since we all lived in the inland, north county San Diego area & at the time, gas prices were skyrocketing to levels we had never seen before.  Our main meeting point was the Escondido transit center, where we felt our cars would be safe, since it is located across the street from the police station. Unfortunately this was short lived & only last several months.

We found it difficult to coordinate between the three of us.  Though we work for the same organization, our hours varied & our positions had different demands.  One coworker needed to stay late a lot while the other often had off site meetings.  Sometimes things would come up & the texts would fly between us in the morning due to an illness, a forgotten appointment, or simply waking up too late to make it to the transit center to meet on time.  It is unfortunate that it didn’t work out, because distributing the driving between three people would have really saved us all in the long run; however we certainly gave it our best effort.

Tip: Plan, plan, plan.  If you need a calendar to help coordinate, create one & give each carpooler access.  Google calendar or a similar solution would work perfectly for this purpose.

Attempt 3 = Success: Carpooling with a Friend

My friend moved back to San Diego from Portland & got a job a few miles away from my office.  She mentioned for a while that we should drive together, so we could take advantage of the carpool lane.  Since my first attempt at carpooling, a construction phase on Interstate 15 was completed & the HOV lanes extended further north.   In addition, she & I get along rather well & are fortunate to have common interests.  We are both silly enough to look forward to War of the Roses on a local radio station, which comes on close to the end of our morning commute.   This may sound evil, but we sometimes relish in seeing people sitting in their cars alone in traffic that’s only going 5 mph, while we zoom past them.  Though I have to be ready to go at a certain time in the morning,  consistently carpooling has helped us to reduce fuel & wear & tear costs & mileage collectively on our cars – overall a win-win situation.

Tip: Commit to make it work & stick to it.  Get into a routine & make it fun.

Though it may seem like carpooling could stunt your freedom & flexibility, the overall benefits are worth the discipline.