So, you want to start a Carpool?

Well, you have come to the right place! Starting a carpool is not as easy as it looks. Developing a fair payment plan and devising a ride schedule are just two of many hassles. However, at the end of the day the money you save is well worth it! You are also helping the environment and relieving traffic congestion in the process.

Gas Prices

With the high cost of fuel it has become much more popular to carpool. You will find that more and more people are open to carpooling. Although gas prices may come down a little, they will inevitably rise again. If you already have an established carpool then those increases will not cause so much grief.

Alright, down to business! ~How to Start a Carpool~

Step 1-NETWORKING

There are two main ways you can go about starting a carpool.

  • Through online carpool network services SEE LIST

  • Through personal networking

If you choose an internet service, make sure you choose a good one--make sure your workplace is listed-- Also, be careful what you put on your profile, you never know what kind of creepy coworkers are out there!

If you are going the human-interaction route, you have some work to do! You will need to talk to as many people/friends at work as possible and find out who lives in your neighborhood (or at least on the route). This is a big task! Finding your carpoolers is probably more important than setting up the logistics (for reasons I'll go into in the next section)

Step 2-CHOOSING YOUR CARPOOLERS

The reason you want a large pool (pun intended) to choose from is that compatibility is a huge factor in your carpool. Not only do you have to get along with the persons but they also must be timely so as not to make everyone late for work. You'll need to do your investigatory homework to find out if your potential candidates are responsible in their morning routine.

Step 3-Planning

Even if you choose outstanding candidates, there is always a chance that someone will sleep in a bit too long or a catastrophic event will only affect your neighborhood. Thus, it is important when planning to allow for ample time to pick everyone up.

That being said, you have two options for pick up:

  • Driver drives in route to work and picks up passengers along the way.

  • Each passenger drives to the drivers house (in their own cars) and everyone leaves from one location. If a person is late then you do not need to wait; they have their own car. This is my favorite method and is more suitable for long commutes.

Step 4-To Pay or To Take turns?

The most important factor when carpooling is payment. Sure it is nice to have company on your daily commute but the ultimate purpose is to split the cost of gas. Be sure to set up a system early and stick to it. There are two major systems you can set up:

  • The Fare Method

    • With this approach, you will approximate the cost of gas for the drive and split it amongst the passengers (including yourself). At the end of the day or week the passengers must pay their fare (amount they owe for the ride). A variation on this would be to fill up along the route at the beginning of the week and have all the passengers split the cost of a full tank. This variation is not as accurate in determining the actual cost of gas.

    • Example: Bob is going to drive 4 coworkers to their office that is 28 miles away for 6 days. His car gets 23 miles per gallon. The current cost of fuel for Bob is $5.20/gallon. Calculate the cost per passenger for the week.

      SOLUTION:

      1. First let us calculate the amount of fuel consumed per day. Divide total miles traveled by his MPG (miles per gallon). 28 miles x 2(because there and back) = 56 miles per day. Divide 56 miles by 23 MPG = 2.43 gallons of fuel burnt each day.
      2. Now we will find out how much that amount of fuel costs. 2.43 gallons of fuel x $5.20 per gallon = $12.64 total cost per day
      3. Divide by amount of riders. $12.64 / 5 riders = $2.53 cost per passenger per day.
      4. Since he wants money at the end of the week (they have a 6-day work-week), multiply $2.53 by 6 days = $15.18 cost per passenger at the end of the week.

  • The Share Method

    With this method, each coworker takes a day to drive and pays for their own gas regardless of mpg. This is a simple way to carpool and avoids the hassle of collecting money.