If you are thinking either joining or starting a carpool, there must be rules established that make it convenient for everybody who is involved. Below you will find a few simples steps that you can take in order to make sure that the carpooling situation you get involved with works out perfectly.

Rule #1 – Be On Time – Usually there are between two to four people in a carpool group. When one person is late, they are wasting everybody else’s time. In most instances, this is the number one reason that carpooling networks fall apart.

Rule #2 – Decide Who Pays What – Carpooling is a good money saver, but there still are expenses. Before you enter into an agreement with other people, you need to come to an understanding about those expenses. Most of the time, the driver will pay that days costs. But, it is not unheard of for the weekly expenditures to be broken up evenly.

Rule #3 – Establish Car Policies – You need to set up rules of etiquette while you are riding in the car. In other words, are you allowed to eat, smoke, drink coffee, talk on a cell phone, or whatever else you might consider important.

Rule #4 – Plan Ahead for Emergencies – You never know when somebody’s car will not start. This should not be an unexpected event that turns into a calamity. But, something that has already been considered and a plan has been developed which will ensure everything goes smoothly.

Rule #5 – Who Sits Where – Who would of ever thought that this would be important issue, but it is. People that are taller will want more legroom, so an agreement needs to be made about the seating arrangements before you enter into a carpooling agreement.

Rule #6 – Drive Safely – Some people are safer drivers than other people. In addition, some people are paranoid about other people’s driving. If you have a bad driver or a nutcase in your carpool that criticizes everybody else’s driving, your carpool will fall apart.

Joining or starting a carpool network is really not that complicated, nor should it be. But, you really need to establish the rules and have everybody agree to them, if you want it to turn into a long-term affiliation.

Carpooling is essentially when one or more people share a regular ride to a predetermined location, which is usually a workplace. There are many benefits to carpooling, and some of them are the following; reduced transportation costs, improving the environment, sharing an unpleasant task, and helping to save the world’s energy reserves.

In most instances, carpooling agreements are made up of people that live close to one another, and either work together, or in the same vicinity. Carpooling arrangements will not be successful unless all the people in the group work similar hours.

How Carpools Start

In most instances, a couple of people that work at the same establishment will get together and come to an agreement. Then as the time passes, a couple of more people will join the group. Certain businesses also encourage carpooling, and some networks are started because of that.

Before you enter into a carpooling arrangement, there needs to be rules established that everybody has to agree to. Some of these are how the costs are to be shared, who drives on what day, what happens when somebody’s car breaks down, and why nobody can ever be late.

While most carpooling is done locally, it is becoming more popular for long distant commutes. When there are great distances covered, some people might only want to travel part of the way, which is very common. Thanks to the internet, there are now websites dedicated to both local and long distance carpooling.

On these sites, you can join a preexisting network, start one of your own, or sign up for a long trip. Just like other sites that consumers use, the carpool websites allow for user ratings, which helps everybody that uses the site.

Local Governments and Businesses Promote Carpools

Today, there are many reasons that a local government or business would want to promote carpooling. It might be that their roads are simply too congested and cannot handle the rush hour traffic. It could be that the city has an air population problem, and they need to reduce automobile emissions. In some downtown areas, there is limited parking, which is one more reason that carpools are encouraged.

Some cites have now constructed high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes that require more than two people be in the car to drive in it during certain hours of the day. This is often enough of an incentive for people that live close to each other and work together, to start their very own carpool.

Greenxc is an environmental organization that in 2011 created a campaign to reduce the world’s carbon footprint. One of their suggestions, was to create more carpools. In England, carpooling is called car sharing, and many charities support and promote it.

Unfortunately, the concept has not caught on worldwide yet. In certain cities like Beijing China the air pollution is so bad, that on some days the government does not want it citizens to even go outside, it is that unhealthy. In Hungary, it is against the law for somebody to drive in your car, and share the cost.

The History of Carpooling

When World War II began, there was less gasoline available for the US general public, and that is what started carpooling. In the mid 1970’s America experienced a gas crises when the many Middle Eastern countries reduced their exports to the US. When this happened, carpooling once again became relevant.

Over the decades as gas prices stayed affordable, the number of people that choose to carpool decreased. In the 1970’s carpooling peaked at 20.4%, and by 2011 it had dropped to just 9.7% for daily commutes.

Thanks to the internet and people being able to easily and quickly interact with each other, carpooling is on the rise once again. There are now websites that specialize in making arrangements for people to share rides.

Types of Carpooling

The following are some of the forms of carpooling.

#1 – A group of people will get together that usually live close to one another and work in the same neighborhood. In these types of situations, the costs are in most instances shared equally.

#2 – There is a concept called “Flexible Carpooling”, which is defined by designating drop off and pickup points.

#3 – The internet now makes possible for “Real Time” ride sharing for long distant journeys. When this happens, the person that is doing the driving offers their services and expects a portion of their costs to be covered by the individuals accepting the ride.

Some of the Issues with Carpooling

#1 – Scheduling – In order for a carpool to work, the participates must arrive and depart from a location on similar schedules. This is the number one reason that people do not carpool.

#2 – Breakdowns – Carpools fail to stay together and function as they should when one or more people in the network do not live up to their obligations. This can happen because an individual is continually late, their car breaks down way too often, or somebody refuses to follow the rules created concerning ridding in the car.

#3 – Long Distant Carpooling – When these types of arrangements are made over the internet, in most instances the people riding with each other, will not have previously known each other. This can and does often cause major problems.

#4 – Achieving the Desired Result – Presently, there is not any concrete evidence that supports the advocators of carpooling efficiency claims. Despite that, most respected observes believe that it is a beneficial concept.

Each day, there is a new story in the newspaper that talks about the world’s dwindling energy supplies and the environmental disaster we are creating  on our planet. All of us should pitch in and do our little part to help solve these problems. Participating in a carpool is certainly a very good first step towards helping to find solutions for these very complicated issues.

The times are getting tougher and the economy is just chugging along at its own very slow pace. If you are looking for a couple of ways to make your life easier, and save some money at the same time, then carpooling just might be for you. Below you will find 10 great reasons why you should start ridding a carpool.

Reason #1 – Only one person has to pay for parking if you work in an area that requires it.

Reason #2 – Each day, more and more concerned citizens are trying to do everything that they can to help out the environment. If you feel the same way, driving one car verse four cars to work substantially reduces the carbon emissions that are released from automobiles which are damaging the ozone layer.

Reason #3 – The world’s energy reserves are not endless. Carpooling decreases amount of petroleum required to get to work, which helps preserve the world’s energy supplies.

Reason #4 – Who does not like to save money, not too many people that we know? Only having to fill up one car with gas, as opposed to more than one, is a good way to keep your hard earned money in your pocket.

Reason #5 – If you live in a city that has high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes, now you do not have to blow up a doll so that you can ride in them just to get to work quicker.

Reason #6 – If it is not your turn to drive that day, you can just sit back, relax, and enjoy your ride to work.

Reason #7 – When four people are in a car together with each other 5 days a week, an hour or two a day, they usually develop a close bond. So, if you would like to make a couple of new and special friends, you might want to tryout carpooling.

Reason #8 – Most cities simply do not have enough roads to support all the cars that need to use them during the busiest parts of the day. Carpooling cuts down on the traffic, which makes it easier and safer for everybody.

Reason #9 – When you participate in a carpool, you need to be disciplined. If you are one of those people that arrives at work late way too often, then carpooling just might be able to help you change that bad habit.

Reason #10 – Some places of businesses offer special parking to people that carpool. If your workplace does, you will be able to take advantage of that perk.

When it comes to carpooling, it is a win win for everybody involved. In fact, other than the fact you have to spend a little more time in the car on some days, there is absolutely nothing bad about it.