Carpool History
The basic premise behind carpooling has been around since transportation began. Back then it was called "cart-pooling" and gas savings were less notable. But as time trekked on so did modern modes of travel. As oil became the air a nation breathed, its deprivation became asphyxiation.
The first large-scale mention of carpooling in the U.S. came from the war rations of the 1940s. Since industry had turned to war production and supplies were being captured (Japan seized plantations in the Dutch East Indies that accounted for 90% of the U.S. rubber supply), the government needed to allocate limited amounts of necessities in order to provide for the military; oil being the most vital.
To cope with the limited fuel supply, the government imposed a 35 mph national maximum Victory Speed. Driving clubs were encouraged through marketing efforts (see poster). It was even portrayed through popular media when Bugs Bunny plunges his airplane to the ground because it is out of gas. This is followed by the slogan Keep it Under 40.
The trend of crisis-based carpool initiatives continues still today.
"Car-sharing" as it was referred to, was only popular until the end of the war. Fuel prices were not high enough to warrant the need for a massive carpooling effort. People still carpooled as a means of convenience, but there were no government-sponsored incentives.
The novel Silent Spring arrived in 1962 and increased awareness of environmental issues. However, it was not until the OAPEC oil crisis of 1973 that carpooling regained popularity. Fuel was literally impossible to get at times and even if it was available people still had to wait in long lines. Oil rose to 80$ a barrel which prompted U.S. President Richard Nixon to announce Project Independence on November 7th, 1973. Among other things, this plan included lowering the national maximum speed limit to 50 mph for cars and 55 mph for trucks and buses (these were the assumed most efficient running speeds for the respective vehicles). The plan also rerouted funding from highways to mass transit. This paved the way for the first HOV lanes (high-occupancy vehicle lanes) which first arose in California. In doing so, the second big push for carpooling in American history occurs.
However, oil eventually stabilized and people were able to obtain fuel again. The urgency for carpooling declined, but states continued to build HOV lanes as a means of alleviating commuter traffic congestion. On a large scale, the environmental reasons were not enough to push people into carpooling. Rather, increased carpooling can be linearly correlated with sudden gas price jumps.
The most notable hikes occurred in the Spring and Summer of 2008. Online participation in carpool networks increased 14% in this time. Thus it is the conclusion of this article that positive environmental implementations are best realized by natural catalysts (such as the economy). Carpool awareness and encouragement have helped insofar as their adoption by the government to provide incentives for such a thing to occur. However, it takes a good reason to make people want to carpool and their wallet is more than adequate
References:
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World Energy Resources, Charles E. Brown, p.227
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"World: Saudis Edge U.S. on Oil" in Washington Post Jan 3, 1980 pg. D2