Category: Carpooling

Traffic has always been a terrible issue in Metro Manila. Carpooling has been one of the ways to help lessen the congested traffic during rush hours. It also helps some car owners to cut-off on their car ownership expenses. When you carpool, you gather or join a group of people living in your area to take a single car towards a single destination or some several stops along the way. But before joining in, it’s important to know the pros and cons of carpooling.

PROS:

Cutting down of Ownership Expenses

Of course, a practical way to save up and earn at the same time is to try carpooling. Both car owner and passenger will benefit from saving up on extra car expenses and transportation.

Promotes Less Cars on the Road

Since you will be sharing a ride or two with a group of people, this helps reduce the number of cars on the road. It maximizes the seating capacity of each vehicle which gives more space on traffic-congested areas.

More Convenient and Comfortable Commute

Since riders will be sharing a single vehicle for a ride in a private sedan or SUV, fully-airconditioned and away from the public transport of a slow MRT and jeepney ride, carpooling fully promotes convenience and comfort.

Growing Network Opportunities

Aside from the comfort and convenience carpooling brings, it also helps people develop and widen their social circle.

CONS:

Not Too Flexible

Carpooling is not as flexible as others may wish it could be. It has a fixed schedule. In short, you can’t run on some errands, go for a quick stop-by a convenience store, can’t be late on the scheduled time of departure since you are all trying to buy time against the traffic.

No Privacy or Alone Time

Since you will be sharing the ride with others, it is respectful to talk to them and ask them how their morning was or how their day went. If you are an introvert type and likes to take time alone with your mind and yourself, this might not be recommended.

The average Los Angeles commute takes 53.68 minutes– roughly four minutes higher than the 49.1-minute US national average. Britons are awaiting the longest train of up to 45 minutes in Europe. Increasing numbers of cars on the road result in more than traffic jams, it makes it even more difficult to fight climate change. We need new modes of transportation and we need them quickly. Although urban planners are crying out for new ideas there is already a viable alternative. Remember carpooling?

Carpooling wasn’t just about football games. The 1970s saw 1 in 5 Americans commuting to work with colleagues according to the new Commuting in America survey. However, there has been a decrease in ride-sharing over the past 30 years, and by 2015, that number dropped to 1 over 10. Now, new data from the Census shows carpooling is starting to make a comeback.

American companies such as Carma, Waze, eRideShare and CarpoolWorld are adamant that digital networks and smartphones can reinvigorate carpooling to its once proud state. Across Europe, too, the phenomenon is starting to catch on; French BlaBlaCar already has 40 million members worldwide. In the UK Tangoride is used by more than 500,000 users. However, not all countries are so fast in accepting carpooling.

This is why companies offer rewards to help people get over the stigma, including free parking spaces and discounted gas. James Nettleton, Investment Director at InMotion Ventures, states ‘From the UK viewpoint, take off has been slower …’ He says British people feel different about sharing.

Carpooling even at its height had some inherent problems because it relies on having many, relatively frequent commuters who share journey, everyday routine. Some of the key selling points provided by the proliferation of carpool apps are that they seek to reduce disputes created by user variables by offering more flexibility in a world with uncertain timetables. ‘This is no longer a natural commute. During every time of the day everyone goes anywhere, ‘says Josh Fried, Waze Carpool’s host.

Since the mid-1970s, D.C.’s Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) riders have organized ‘slug lines’ to take advantage of HOV lanes. Waze stepped in and created flexible routes that linked more users when the D.C. area faced a partial closure of their Metro transit network as well as a drastic price hike in HOV lane tolls. D.C. embraced the change and gave users $2 a day as an opportunity to carpool.

In offering simpler parking options at transit stations, San Francisco’s Bay Area Rapid Transit System (BART) has launched a new system to facilitate carpooling and public transportation. Drivers involved in the carpool program will use the official BART app to access exclusive permit parking spaces, by using a more convenient digital payment system.

Carpooling services, with the help of city infrastructure and rewards, would have a greater chance of making it long term. The new BART carpooling app in the UK, for example, offers you more parking choices.

It needs large-scale coordination to ensure that carpooling is here to stay. Companies looking to reduce their effect on the environment have plenty to gain by motivating workers to adopt the new emerging trend. For example, Bosch currently has an enrolment rate of 50 percent at its Mexican offices, and studies have increased the retention of employees. Carpooling has also expanded their inter-departmental communication as workers who normally don’t meet on the way to work will converse. Bosch has saved 55,000 miles (90,000 km) and 25 metric tons of carbon dioxide so far.

City planners and city leaders may promote carpooling in their communities by implementing ride-sharing services with colleges, adding or widening HOV lanes, and helping start-ups interact with targeted audiences such as tech-savvy millennial parents. It’s also helpful to step outside of town limits. Supporting the relationship between carpooling start-ups and automakers will make your city a pioneer in green transportation solutions for suburban families without access to transit.

Carpooling has become increasingly common in metro cities and not only helps to curb emissions but also makes it easy and economical for regular commuting. Carpooling is a beautiful innovation that brings down on the roads the number of vehicles.

Reflecting on the results of my project, I should say that my actions against plastic and CO2 were small but consistent and, hence, efficient. I started from the easiest I could do, which was to replace the light bulbs in my apartment to LED lights, which are more eco-friendly and cost-saving. I started from the living room and kitchen and then bought one LED light per month during the term. With this strategy, the purchase and replacement of the bulb went almost unnoticed for me yet visible for the environment. My other activity included carpooling, and I needed no more than two weeks to get accustomed to this practice. My war against plastic also involved stopping the use of plastic bottles and committing to alternatives, including a water filter system and a Hydroflask. Abandoning plastic was more difficult for me than two other activities as I could not get used to taking a Hydroflask with me. The worst was that I kept forgetting about the taboo on buying plastic water bottles and mostly remembered about this at the last moment.

For sure, I can state that this anti-plastic and carbon footprint project was worthwhile for me. In particular, I saved on my electric bills as the replacement of light bulbs helped me to reduce my bills for approximately 10-20%, if not to mention that I did not change a single LED light since their establishment. While carpooling, I benefited from making contacts and befriending people. I noticed how I became more sociable and open during the first two months of the project, so carpooling helped to develop my communication skills too. In turn, refusing from plastic bottles, I became aware that my apartment was no longer crammed with those bottles but became more tidy and well-kept.

More importantly, the project indeed helped me to succeed in making this world a better place. As said, my steps against plastic and CO2 were not life-changing, yet they made me commit to the surrounding. For instance, the replacement of light bulbs provided the longevity of my new lights, along with the use of less electricity. I believe carpooling also had its positive effects as I saved the environment from transportation emissions. Lastly, despite being the most challenging to get used to, the plastic initiative added the most value. Overall, I bought two plastic water bottles during the period of the project. The first I purchased was in the very beginning when I simply forgot about my commitment. The second bottle I bought was when my friend asked me for, and I was restricted in time to discuss the adverse effect of plastics on the environment with him. At that moment, we were speaking on the phone; however, this purchase gave me a perfect occasion to raise the question of plastics and carbon footprint when we met in person. By the way, I consider the project exceptionally efficient because I succeeded in drawing attention to the problem of the environment of a range of my friends and acquaintances. Some of them even borrowed my practices.

To conclude, I definitely plan to continue these activities as I see their positive effect both on the surroundings and me personally. I also aim to expand my environmental practices by other related activities. Among them, I am planning to abandon plastic bags and using reusable produce bags. Once again, I believe it will take time to get accustomed to this practice, yet my experiment with plastic water bottles proved I could do anything. Recycling my rubbish is one more eco-friendly solution I would like to try.

There are many great benefits to carpooling, many of which people do not know about or even think about. With these benefits in mind, it will be easier than ever to see why making the switch, even for just a few days a week, can be a good idea. It can save money on gas and such by diving up the gas fees among carpool passengers. The more people you have the more you can save. Or, moreover, it’s better to use electric vehicles as in such way can be reduced emissions and even saved some money. Fuelling with electricity offers some advantages that not available in internal combustion engine vehicles because electric motors react quickly than petrol engines and electric vehicles are very responsive. It is true that electric vehicle is higher energy efficient that conventional combustion engine. Electric vehicle produces fewer greenhouse gases. Although it can cause environmental damage when getting power from coal producing plants, electric vehicles would dramatically reduce the amount of greenhouse gasses when powered by plants that don’t produce greenhouse gases. Even when generated from coal burning plants, electric cars would reduce carbon dioxide emissions compared to combustion engine vehicles.

However, electric vehicles have a problem with frequent recharges, hybrid electric vehicles combine a standard engine with battery power. Hybrid vehicles get power from a normal electric grid, avoiding the use of coal burning power in the future. Electric vehicles use half as much fossil fuel even when being supplied by fossil fuel burning plants. The energy that use is twice as efficient in vehicles over the same distance. As researchers look for more alternative ways to replace combustion engine vehicles that can damage the environment, electric vehicles provide cleaner energy when power comes from a cleaner electric grid. The environment will benefit from the growing use of electric vehicles as improvements are made for renewable power generation.

Moreover, electric vehicles have environmental advantages over gas, petrol and diesel-powered vehicles in other areas, such as ozone pollution, consumption of water and use of steel and copper materials. Although the vehicle still face some disadvantages until improvements or changes are made, electric vehicle might provide better options in the future to combat global warming. To come back to carpooling, some money can be saved on road fees because with more carpooling there are fewer cars on the road and therefore less wear and damage to the roads that need to be repaired each year using taxpayer’s money.

Carpooling cuts down on the number of cars and vehicle son the road. Fewer cars means there is less carbon emissions and other gasses and pollution getting into the air. This protects the environment by keeping the air, water, and land cleaner. According to numerous health reports and research, air pollution caused by auto emissions can significantly increase the likelihood of health issues such as asthma, allergies, lung cancer, COPD, and the like. Carpooling is also a wonderful way to meet interesting people, get to know the people you work with or go to school with, and to make new friends which make a good business for Uber service. Carpool is clearly brings a good solution to the problem which the amount of fuel saving is considerable, carpooling system implementation can help to improve energy efficiency urban area and also causes to reducing the pollutants production and also better quality of air.