Finding Car Sharing Options

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With the rising price of transportation people have begun traveling economically. Everything from taking a bus to walking, riding a bike, or even car sharing. There are even people who are commuting economically just for the sake of the environment. The concept of the carbon footprint has had quite an impact on the way people travel. Here are a few tips on traveling economically and car sharing.

For those who do not like to use public transportation and travel further than walking distance, car sharing can be a great option. To find a good car sharing option you first must find people who are traveling in the same direction that you are. Co-workers will often carpool together to save money and to have company while having company.

If you can not find anyone who works with you to share a ride with there are other options. Often local classified websites will have a section for commuters. Often commuters will car share with people who work and/or live near their location. Other people may just find a friend or loved one who is either generous or nearby to make the daily commute with.

If you are unable to find either a friend, co-worker, or random chance encounter to help with your travel time you might still have options. Some major cities offer a car sharing program that you can register for at local government or supported business areas. This option will offer you less opportunity to chose someone who you get a long with well, but it can still reduce the cost of commute.

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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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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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CarPooling and the Compatability Factor

The car pool is an excellent and popular way to save money, fuel and cut down on the damage to the environment. With this concept come some concessions however. Individuals involved in a car pool can be sure to be in tight quarters for duration of time. It is best if the individuals get on well together. This is vital to ensuring the car pool does not cause significant issues to the individuals over time. There are some coping mechanisms for dealing with the car pool situation that will ease the trip to the city.

Individuals finding the situation of being in a car for a long period of time with strangers or near strangers difficult can try a number of things to keep themselves from wanting to jump out of the car. One way to keep occupied while on the long journey to the office is by making conversation. Pick a topic that seems to be neutral such as a hot topic for the location that you all work in. From there it will be easy to pick out topics that the conversation can take a turn to and keep the conversation moving. Not only will this pass the time very quickly but it will also create some new friendships along the way. This is an excellent way to make it through the car pool experience.

Another excellent way to maneuver through the car pool monotony is by bringing along a bit of work or a great book. Keep busy while you head through the maze of traffic or simply put on some music and take a nice long nap along the way arriving energetic and ready to go from the journey. This is an excellent way to pass the time and the other members will likely understand given some explanation.

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