We worry daily about increases in fuel prices and taxes, but how can we solve these problems without an increase in income? For the majority of us, we're not going to ditch our vehicles to ride our bikes to work and to the supermarket. But we can try an intelligent solution: car sharing or ridesharing. This is popularly known as carpooling ---a system in which four or five people share a car often or each day to travel long distances.
Ridesharing does not only mean carpooling. It also can mean taking a bus or train, or hiring a van to reach your destination. In all of these instances we are sharing transportation with one or many people. Ridesharing is considered to be the best option to reduce commuting costs. Here's an example: a person traveling at least 15 miles a day might have to spend $1,700 or more per year to travel to work in his or her own vehicle. Carpooling can cut that cost by at least 50 percent. That's a significant savings.
Many state transportation departments help organize ride sharing programs. Various regional websites can help you find ride sharing companions with the same daily destination. For instance, websites like RideshareOptimizer. makes it easier for people searching for rideshares stress free. This rideshare matching site actually allows users to search for the best ride matches such as riders and drivers with similar work schedules.
There is also something called carpool etiquette that needs to be addressed for the individual ride share setup to work and to guarantee that each rider reaches their destination on time. This includes being punctual, maintaining the vehicle, pre-arranging substitute drivers; predetermining pickup and drop-off points, sharing expenses and paying the organizer on time.
