Carolina Commuter - Carpool Tips

If you haven’t already organized your carpool, your first step toward organizing a carpool is to complete your CarolinaCommuter.com profile. Click here to view a sample profile.

After making contact with your new friends who are also interested in saving tons of money in fuel and vehicle maintenance costs, reducing traffic congestion, and improving air quality, you may want to consider the following things as you begin to organize your carpool.

Set realistic expectations! How many days per week are you going to carpool? Like exercising, consistency is what pays. Trying a couple days a week at first may be best. Who will be the driver? How often should the driving responsibilities be alternated? If not everyone can be a driver, how will driving costs be shared?

Here’s a big one, will eating be tolerated? I once heard a very entertaining commentary on driver’s habits that suggested that there are really only three types of serious commuters – readers, eaters, and groomers. How many times have you looked over at the car next to you only to see one, two, or even all three activities being performed, at 70 miles per hour no less? Paper stretched out across the steering wheel, driver set on spearing that dodgy cherry tomato in his salad, eye shadow being applied in the rear view mirror. You get the idea.

These are a few concerns worth bearing in mind as you organize your carpool. I invite you to respond to this post with your own suggestions describing how fellow Carolina Commuters can get their new carpools off to a good start. What’s worked best for you and your friends?