Car Pooling

[dooleysm]

We've seen many threads running around lately related to high oil prices. I drive about 85 miles total per day to/from work. I was filling up usually 2 times per week (including some weekend driving) and it just killed me to pay all that money. I have a good job and I wasn't hurting for money, but it was the principal of the thing.

So, I started looking around and found 2 guys to carpool with. We meet about 7 miles from my house and alternate days.

My wife is an accountant and she's got Quicken or some such program where she tracks all our expenses. She printed out some reports on Sunday that we were looking over. In April and May, before I started carpooling, we were averaging about $340/month in gas. For August/September we have been averaging $180/month in gas.

$160/month for the added 20 minutes of drive time per day and slight hassle, is easy money, in my book.

 

[RobertN]

I carpool with a buddy. We work at the same place, but different buildings. It works out well most of the time. Sometimes I could use an extra hour or two at work, but have to go because of carpool. Of course, there's times I don't want to be there, so leaving at 5 is just fine We have a 30 mile round trip. we have a pretty good ride, since we can hit a carpool lane too.

I can't imagine much more of a commute. I did a 90 mile round trip for a very short time. That got old real quick, especially in Sacramento cross town traffic...

 

[rdln]

I drive 100 miles a day, but personally the money saved would not be worth the loss of freedom and security. If I did not already have a car that obtains <30mpg and fuel expense was an issue I would get a diff car. I am lucky to have a "leisure" truck.

On topic, the carpool lot at my freeway on ramp has been closed for a week while they tripled the size of it!