Do you car pool to work/school or have you done it in the past? If you did it, what did you like or not like about it? Or are you at the other end-have no interest in doing it and why? Or are you none of the above and rely strictly on public transit?
I never have because it always seems wherever I have worked, no one was ever going where I was going at the same time. But now I only commute 2-3 days a week anyway, so it's a lot less gas consumption.
I don't have a consistent schedule so car-pooling has never been a good idea for me. I make a point of living close to where I work, so that I can walk, bike, or take the bus.
Ditto what others have said -- either no one is going my way, or we don't share the same schedule, or whatever. So, nope! Never have, don't currently do so, and probably never will.
I would never car pool. I prefer my freedom and I don't like relying on other people. Besides, it's never been an option because no one lives near me. I have dropped someone off at home if they are in need of a ride and it's not too far out of my way and I have had people drop me off when I was without a car.
I do a lot of errands during lunch and before / after work so sharing a ride would not work for me.
I carpooled to my clinical placement all through college. I also tried carpooling at my first job for a few months, but it didn't work out. She wanted to get there an hour early and stay an hour late!! NOT for me.. she never seemed to get her work done, but I always got my work done even though I got there right when the students arrived and usually left when they left. I guess some people just work faster than others..
Quote:I would never car pool. I prefer my freedom and I don't like relying on other people. Besides, it's never been an option because no one lives near me.
DITTO for me.. When I use to work, I felt the same way about my freedom. And no one I ever worked with lived anywhere near me either, lol
But I do think car pooling is a good idea if one can pull it off. And get along with
all the people involved not to mention the scheduling. But, It was just NEVER feasible for me.
I car pooled all through college the first go round (before I had a driver's licence), so I guess you could say I got a ride to school every day back then. LOL Then in one job in Niagara Falls, I carpooled from Hamilton for about a year before I had to get my own licence. The woman driving wanted to move closer to work.
When I go anywhere long distances, I most often take passengers. It's called "Craigslist Ridesharing" and I usually put an ad that I'm going somewhere and have room for two or three more or whatever. I'm a HUGE fan of carpooling, and I think besides the savings on gas (if you all pitch in, etc.) it's great for everyone involved. Buses are usually way more expensive (ie, $75 one way for one person to Ottawa... $40 for a tank of gas in a car that holds four people... so $10 each). It just makes sense. Plus I love the company, and I love helping out fellow travellers because I took the bus for YEARS and the convenience of getting a ride can't be beat. I feel like I'm paying it forward because I got so many rides for so long in my youngers years.
BTW, don't say "ride" in Ireland. It means sex. LOL. Say "lift". LOL
I did it for a coworker who didn't have a car. It was a major pain in the ass. Not only did I have to drive further to pick her up, but it took me longer to get to work and if she woke up late then I was also late to work which cost me money since I was paid hourly. Needless to say I'll never do that again.
I never was in a situation when I had the opportunity. When I worked at fixed places with a fixed schedule, I never lived near anyone I worked with. Now that I'm a freelancer, I'm mostly home or I go to different places sporadically.
As for public transportation, the only place I've lived with reliable and good transportation was London, so, of course, I used it there.
A couple of years during University, I use to carpool, occasionally. My friend that drove wanted to car-pool...she loved the idea of starting the morning with someone, chatting, etc.... she was a great person for coming by to get me.
It worked because we were both punctual, so I wasn't panicking because she was late and she didn't freak-out because I wasn't ready. We would go to the local bagel shop and get a bagel and coffee, talk and wake-up. It was really nice.
That's it as far as my car pooling experience goes. Any job that I have had, car-pooling would not have worked. The hours made it too inconvenient, usually because of the mandatory overtime and call.
DH and I share a car, so he will often ride his bike to work.
Personally, car-pooling makes sense, but it is not for me. I find that more often than not, people are almost never on time and I hate that feeling, wondering, "Am I going to be late?".
I used to do it, but I was always the one driving. I was helping out a friend by giving her rides to Metro and dropping her son off at school.
At one point, she was picking me up in my own car in the mornings, because I had to park at her place due to a dispute with my condo management--they yanked my parking priveleges, so my friend let me use the 2nd space outside her town house. (I'm so glad I'm no longer in that condo!)
So I didn't really see much benefit from it, other than I was helping out a good friend who was having a rough time in life. (Married, but husband was a do-nothing, so she had to do EVERYTHING, and it was more manageable for her with me helping out.)
I'm always open to carpooling. I just don't have any opportunity right now.
Jen M.
(07-14-2010 10:31 PM)Dog Holliday Wrote: [ -> ]Do you car pool to work/school or have you done it in the past? If you did it, what did you like or not like about it? Or are you at the other end-have no interest in doing it and why? Or are you none of the above and rely strictly on public transit?
Also, I generally do NOT carpool to social functions, because I like to have control over when I leave.
Jen M.
J. and I used to carpool to work and the gym. It was fine - the only issue was if he got out late and I had to wait - waiting to leave at the end of the day is crappy for me... I just want to get home at the end of the day. But our commute was 12 miles each way so we saved a LOT by doing it - and we worked within the same block. I wish we could still do it but we go in opposite directions.
I am currently unemployed.
I have taken public transportation to work for many years, but I have never carpooled to work. Well, that's not exactly true. I have carpooled on a few occasions with co-workers or friends who worked downtown on days that I had to drive my car into work for some reason.
If I get another job that's not downtown, I would definitely like to find a carpool buddy.
I work out of town and and have to take highway, which is a parking lot during rush hour: bumper-to-bumper stop-and-go traffic, top speed of maybe 10 mph. In pretty much every vehicle I see there is only one person in each car (including mine-oops). I thought on many occasions, if each driver took one passenger, there would be half as many vehicles, and traffic would be able to travel at the speed limit.
I did car pooling at one job before. There were four of us, and we all met at a plaza parking lot and hopped into the car of whoever's turn it was to drive. I was living in a small city at that time, so it was only an extra 5 minutes to drive to the plaza. Our rule for someone who is late was we would wait 5 minutes. If they didn't show up within 5 minutes, we would go without the person. That came to end when the job ended. At the current job, there are three people who live in the same city as me, but they don't live close to me, so car pooling is out. Also, my AC doesn't work in my car, and it's been so bloody hot this summer, the last thing I need is more hot sweaty bodies in my oven on wheels and I'm sure others wouldn't want to be a pasenger in a car that's probably 100 degrees or more.
Never had the chance. Some students posted that they wanted to carpool when I was working on my Master's, but the days they needed to go to class I had to intern, so it never worked out.
My one way of saving gas was walking to the local library when I worked there. It was only 20 minutes away, so as long as the weather was not too bad I would walk. I was suprised by how freaked out the other employees got when they found out-its like they never heard of a young, healthy person choosing to walk to save gas! I had to reassure them that I wasn't like, straining myself or anything, and that I would drive if it was 20 below zero and snowing out. Actually, I'll still walk there if I'm going to get some books or something, and I'm not already driving by on the way to some other place.
Never had the chance, but I'd never do it. The whole reason I like driving is because I'm alone. Besides, I get really anxious if I have other people in the car because I'm afraid I'll get in a crash and get sued.
I carpooled, biked, walked or took public transportation for the first 20 years of my life. Since then I have lived in areas that don't really support that type of lifestyle. Southern California where people drive to the mailbox, the desert where it's too hot to be outside walking, and Alaska where things are simply too far away for carpooling to make sense.