Car-Pooling & Car Sharing

Try this next time you're driving on the highway or you're stuck in rush hour traffic... look in the cars around you and notice how many cars are carrying only one passanger!  Why is everyone driving alone?  Don't these people live near people who are headed in the same general direction to get to work every morning?  

Now look in your own car.. does it contain only one passenger?  If so, start thinking about creative ways to meet people to car-pool with.  It may be as simple as talking about it.  Start telling people you'd carpool to work if you only knew someone who lived and worked near your home and work. It's amazing the connections you can make when you just put ideas out there!  Or you could put up a sign to recruit car-poolers in your local coffee-shop or greasy-spoon.   You can even leave a dedicated e-mail address as a contact to avoid being solicited or harrased if that sort of thing concerns you.

Is it worth all that effort to start and maintain a carpooling buddy?  Heck yes! Think about it, if you get even one more person in that car with you, that halves the amount of cars on the road between the two of you!  It also cuts your transportation costs in half!  Imagine the savings with two or more car-poolers...

Car sharing memberships are also a great option if your live in an urban area and you only need to use a car periodically.

Check out AutoShare and Zipcar in Toronto or just run a search for 'Car sharing' and your city's name.