Car Pooling Etiquette

When you participate in ride sharing or car pooling, remember that you need to follow a few rules to make the experience comfortable for you and the others in the vehicle. When it comes to car pool etiquette, here are a few tips.
Do not wear too much perfume/cologne. You’re in a small enclosed space, so it’s best not to lather yourself in something that has a strong scent, even if you know in your heart of hearts that it is a pleasant scent. This guideline actually applies to any product that comes with an overpowering smell, including hair spray, body wash, and deodorant.
Take care of your body odor. It’s the same idea as the previous tip. While you don’t want to overwhelm your traveling companions with the powder fresh scent of your deodorant, you definitely want to use something to tame your b.o.
Don’t be obnoxious. This rule applies to several areas of human interaction in a car pooling scenario. Don’t insist that everyone listen to your favorite music or radio station. Likewise, avoid continuous chatter. If the other riders are amenable to talking, avoid touchy subjects like religion and politics.
Avoid bringing food and drinks with you. Out of respect for the vehicle owner, eat before you get in the car or wait until you arrive at work. You certainly don’t want to spill something on the leather interior. This tip also relates to the idea that you should avoid introducing strong smells into a shared confined space.
Resist the urge to talk about other people. Even though you’re riding with people from your neighborhood or office, you may not be fully aware of how well your companions know so-and-so, making it unwise to make catty or petty remarks about other people.

Follow these tips to make your car pool experience pleasant and amiable.

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Creating a Ride Share Program That Works for You

Perhaps you live 30 minutes away from a downtown area where you work. You like living outside the city, but you have come to despise the long commute. You can make it easier on the pocketbook and more enjoyable by developing your own ride sharing program. Before you do, there are several things you need to consider carefully to ensure that car pooling is a positive experience for you.

Chances are good that you live near at least a few people who work in the same part of town as you. You can use ride share websites or even Craigslist to connect with those people. Once you’ve found two or three people with whom you’re comfortable car pooling, choose a place to meet each morning. Whether someone is dropping you off at the meeting point or you drive there and leave your car, you want to choose a safe meeting place.

Next, come up with a schedule that determines how you and your companions will share driving duties. Maybe the same person drives for a week or two before the next person has a turn. Develop a system that works for you and your fellow travelers. Take into consideration how you’ll handle days when the designated driver is sick and isn’t able to go to work. Remember that in these instances, good communication between the car pool participants is essential.

Finally, decide on a drop-off point that’s near everyone’s workplace. This should be a place that’s convenient for everyone involved. While you may not get dropped off right in front of your office door, you shouldn’t have far to go.

By considering your own needs and weighing those against the needs of the others in the car pool, you can come up with good solutions for a meeting place, a driving schedule, and a drop-off point.

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The Financial Benefits of Car Pooling

Most people spend up to 2 hours or more of their day commuting to and from work, so the decision to start car pooling very significant indeed. Consider that if you work 5 days a week, you will be spending about 10 hours a week in your car sharing group. If you are used to driving to work alone, then joining a car pool means giving up 10 hours a week of your privacy. Despite the loss of privacy, car pooling has many benefits, and I think you’ll agree that at the end of the day the financial benefits far outweigh the sacrifice of giving up your “alone time.”

The first and most obvious benefit to your pocketbook from car pooling is the lowering of your weekly fuel costs. Think about this: if you are in a ride share pool with 4 other people, then you will typically only be required to drive to work 1 day a week. This can reduce your fuel costs by up to 80%. When gas prices go back up again (and that’s already starting to happen), you will be thankful you made the decision to join a car pool just for the gas savings alone.

The other financial benefit to car sharing that’s closely related to fuel cost savings is the reduction of your automotive repair costs. With your vehicle on the road in the bumper to bumper traffic 80% less during the week, this will translate into far less visits to the repair shop. It is sometimes hard to quantify, but we all know that car repair bills can run up to several hundred or even several thousand dollars. Car sharing will help you put off these repairs and save you more money.
So how much money can you save from car pooling? Well, a typical person can save a several hundred dollars a year by car pooling, and in today’s economy, every dollar saved is important.

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Car Pooling: Is it Right for Me?

With the high cost of gas these days and the need to save money wherever we can, many people are considering joining a car sharing group, and you may be one of them. You may be thinking about joining a car pool, but you may also be wondering if car sharing is right for you. After all, there are other ways to save money going to work, like biking or taking the bus. So how do you know if car pooling is the right option?

The biggest factor for you to consider in making this decision is how well you get along with other people. Clearly, car sharing will require you to make some sacrifices. First of all, you need to be able to work with the schedules of 4 or 5 other people. This could be a challenge if you find you need to wake up an hour earlier every day to accommodate the rest of the group.

Another thing to think about is if you have the same tastes as the people you will be riding with. This is important because you may not like some of their habits, like the radio station they listen to, the kind of things they like to talk about, etc. Before joining any car pool, you better make sure you know the people well enough to know if you will be compatible with them.

So, if you are a flexible person and get along well with others that may even have different tastes than yours, then car pooling might be a great option for you. On the other hand, if you value your privacy and are more particular about your tastes, then you may want to look at other ways to save money on your daily commute-like riding your bike or taking the bus to work.

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Long Distance Ride Share

Ever want to go on a long distance road trip and not have the car or the money to take one on your own? Maybe you are an adventurous type that wants to see and do everything but don’t have the money to buy all your own gas or want to do it alone?

Luckily there is a way that can allow you to see and do all those things and help the environment.

Long distance car pooling is becoming more and more popular as people’s wallets get smaller and smaller. Long distance car trips allow people to match up their needs and see if they are heading in the same direction around the same time and be able to share the cost of the trip.

In fact, car sharing can help save over 50% of a car trips ride and you’ll have someone who can drive a bit so you aren’t doing it all alone.

So where can one go to find these car sharing services for long distance rides?

The Internet is the best place to find match ups for those that are looking for rides long distance. There are websites such as rideboard.com that allow people to search for local and long distance car pools and car sharing that will get them to where they want.

All you do is simply put in where you plan to go and see if anyone is looking to share a ride in that direction. Sometimes you have to make concessions and go a little bit further away then you were planning or make an few extra stops but the savings can be well worth it.

Next time you want to go on that long car ride and you’re afraid about the damage it will do to your wallet consider looking into car pooling for long distance. You can save money and make a new friend while seeing the sights that you want!

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