As long as Americans treat our autos like one of the family, we have little hope to reduce congestion and lower our carbon footprint.
At age 16 or thereabouts, we adopt or marry autos that reflect our personality, income and education. We name them, care for them and sometimes spend more per hour on parking them than we do on day care for children or old people.
We clean them, feed them with gas and take them to the mechanic more often than some of us visit our physicians for check-ups. The special rooms cars occupy in our homes are usually bigger than our bedrooms and living rooms. If we park them on the street, we worry about their safety and long for a garage.
After housing, most of us spend more on transportation than we do on any other line item in our household budget. The only category that can exceed transportation could be daycare for young children.
We view cars as essential, and build our societies around them. In the same way car ownership blossomed in the 20th century, pollution from cars may cause the demise of our society in the 21st century.
Car ownership in China is now 6 cars per 100 people -- the same rate as in the USA in 1920. Today, American car ownership is 90 percent. China is 20 percent of the world's population. They emulate America.
You do the math, while we can still see through the smog and congestion.
We are doomed if the people of Chindia fall in love with autos the way we Americans have.
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
Slugging -- when will everyone else be doing it?
Paul Minett is a tireless proponent of Casual Carpooling, also known as slug lines in San Francisco and Washington, DC. The idea is fueled by the notion traditional carpooling requires too much structure, commitment and planning. Yet, most of us own cars, which creates too much congestion.
For example, if the Chinese acquire autos at the same rate that Americans own autos, "climate change" will become "climate disaster." Right now, the Chinese own autos at the same rate of Americans in 1920 -- about 6 per 100 people, compared to Americans' 90 percent car ownership rate. Chinese make up 20 percent of the world's population and GM sees dollar signs in China. You do the math.
Casual carpooling is a way to use our cars more effectively and less often and while preserving convenience and the ability to go places public transit doesn't go.
This is how casual carpooling works in Oakland-San Francisco, near the Bay Bridge. Commuters park in Oakland and wait in a line to be transported over the Bay Bridge to downtown San Francisco. Riders get in the car, and most cars have an unspoken rule of silence. A car with three people is then entitled to ride in the CARPOOL ONLY lane, and gets downtown faster, paying a lesser or no (?) toll. At the end of the day, the same process is reversed, using a meeting place downtown.
The riders enter the driveres' cars as they arrive at the site, with no pre-arrangement required by drivers or riders. Ideally, there's a constant stream of drivers and riders during peak commuting hours. Some people prefer to always drive, and picking up riders means they save time, which for some, is in shorter supply than money.
Washington, DC also has several successful slug lanes, one of them at the Pentagon.
These two locations work because of the number of commuters going to the destinations and the benefit of using the HOV lanes. Time is more valuable than money for some people.
Paul addressed some of the questions about slugging, especially for women, who might feel more vulnerable getting into a stranger's car, on the Transp-TDM list serve [transportation-Transportation Demand Management].
"Last week I was in San Francisco and counted the people at the casual carpooling pick-up point at College and Claremont (Oakland). Some interesting facts: The line of people waiting for a ride grew to over 20 some of the time. The longest anyone waited for a ride was 11 minutes. Exactly 50% of the riders were female. Only after 8:30 am were there cars lined up. About a third of the cars took three passengers (rather than the "required" two for access to the HOV lane). In total there were 49 carpools formed during the 90 minutes that I was watching, and gave rides to 112 riders."
Paul's challenge is the same for most of us in the transportation demand management industry:
motivating people to leave their private personal polluting machines.
People leave their cars behind when
1. Everyone else is doing it.
2. Gas costs $4 or $5 a gallon -- and everyone else is paying $4.
3. Someone invites them to carpool and it's fun and social -- and everyone else is doing it.
4. They care about the environment [they are the exception -- unless everyone else is doing it.]
5. Public transit and/or bike commuting is convenient, safe, clean and dependable -- so everyone else is doing it.
The slug lanes work. How can we get everyone else doing it?
For a video explanation by Paul Minett on how Flexible or Casual Carpooling works, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kn0T9kVd930. He works from down under in New Zealand.
For example, if the Chinese acquire autos at the same rate that Americans own autos, "climate change" will become "climate disaster." Right now, the Chinese own autos at the same rate of Americans in 1920 -- about 6 per 100 people, compared to Americans' 90 percent car ownership rate. Chinese make up 20 percent of the world's population and GM sees dollar signs in China. You do the math.
Casual carpooling is a way to use our cars more effectively and less often and while preserving convenience and the ability to go places public transit doesn't go.
This is how casual carpooling works in Oakland-San Francisco, near the Bay Bridge. Commuters park in Oakland and wait in a line to be transported over the Bay Bridge to downtown San Francisco. Riders get in the car, and most cars have an unspoken rule of silence. A car with three people is then entitled to ride in the CARPOOL ONLY lane, and gets downtown faster, paying a lesser or no (?) toll. At the end of the day, the same process is reversed, using a meeting place downtown.
The riders enter the driveres' cars as they arrive at the site, with no pre-arrangement required by drivers or riders. Ideally, there's a constant stream of drivers and riders during peak commuting hours. Some people prefer to always drive, and picking up riders means they save time, which for some, is in shorter supply than money.
Washington, DC also has several successful slug lanes, one of them at the Pentagon.
These two locations work because of the number of commuters going to the destinations and the benefit of using the HOV lanes. Time is more valuable than money for some people.
Paul addressed some of the questions about slugging, especially for women, who might feel more vulnerable getting into a stranger's car, on the Transp-TDM list serve [transportation-Transportation Demand Management].
"Last week I was in San Francisco and counted the people at the casual carpooling pick-up point at College and Claremont (Oakland). Some interesting facts: The line of people waiting for a ride grew to over 20 some of the time. The longest anyone waited for a ride was 11 minutes. Exactly 50% of the riders were female. Only after 8:30 am were there cars lined up. About a third of the cars took three passengers (rather than the "required" two for access to the HOV lane). In total there were 49 carpools formed during the 90 minutes that I was watching, and gave rides to 112 riders."
Paul's challenge is the same for most of us in the transportation demand management industry:
motivating people to leave their private personal polluting machines.
People leave their cars behind when
1. Everyone else is doing it.
2. Gas costs $4 or $5 a gallon -- and everyone else is paying $4.
3. Someone invites them to carpool and it's fun and social -- and everyone else is doing it.
4. They care about the environment [they are the exception -- unless everyone else is doing it.]
5. Public transit and/or bike commuting is convenient, safe, clean and dependable -- so everyone else is doing it.
The slug lanes work. How can we get everyone else doing it?
For a video explanation by Paul Minett on how Flexible or Casual Carpooling works, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kn0T9kVd930. He works from down under in New Zealand.
Carpool matching sites
Casey asked for some carpool matching sites so people can connect with others who live and work near them.
At least two-thirds of all carpools to work are formed by people who already know each other.
This is ideal, because you know if you are suited for each other, and if you live and work near each other.
The only wild card is DO YOU WORK THE SAME HOURS? Either you compromise on this freedom or you look until you find someone who works the same hours.
Many companies offer flex-time, which makes carpooling more challenging, because employees savor the convenience and freedom of coming and going at their whim.
I suggest carpoolers start with baby steps -- and carpool on an agreed schedule one or two days a week.
If you don't know anyone with whom to carpool, find out if you company belongs to a Transportation Management Association -- TMA. Your Human Resources department, landlord, facilities manager or environmental engineers will know the answer. If so, they likely have the most effective conduit to find a carpool.
In Massachusetts, go to http://www.masscommute.com/ -- where the state's dozen or so TMAs are listed. All but one are in Eastern Massachusetts. The one lone wolf TMA is in Amherst, MA. The rest, like mine, the MetroWest/495 TMA, manage the commute in and around Boston. Most regions of the country that have congested corridors have TMAs, even my home state of Delaware. If Delaware can have a TMA, any state can.
To prove my point that TMAs provide the best system to find a carpool, I have found NINE carpool partners through my TMA and ZERO through at least three other carpool matching sites I'm listed on.
The three other carpool matching sites that have resulted in ZERO matches include the statewide ridematching site in Massachusetts, MassRides -- http://www.commute.com/, which I have been listed on for three years; Carpool World, Go Loco, and at least one other one that I forget, because I've found no matches at them. Every once in a while, they all send me notices saying they're still trying to match me up with someone.
The trouble with most of the carpool matching sites is that they're not focused enough. Their territory covers the entire US or other huge regions. Even the statewide ridematching database in Massachusetts, with only 6 million people, is not focused to be effective.
I work at an intersection with nearly 9,000 other people. Do you think that some of them live near me? YES! I found them because the major employers there with more than 1,000 employees -- belong to a TMA and they promote the ridematching database with their employees.
The hurdles to overcome are:
1. Getting people who have been raised in the second half of the 2oth century who are addicted to car ownership, to consider sharing rides regularly. $4/gallon gas is causing some motivation by pain in the wallet;
2. Getting those interested people to sign up for the carpool matching sites;
3. Getting those people to TRY ONE DAY of carpooling. If that doesn't work, to keep looking for the ideal carpool partner. It takes time, but once a match is made, it can be very enjoyable to carpool with others. "Enjoyable" might mean the opportunity to sleep while your carpool partner drives, or talk or read. Every carpool has a different definition of "enjoyable."
I have passed many enjoyable hours in a carpool, shared information and stories, and made friends I never would have otherwise. In addition, I've saved hundreds of dollars by driving alone less and our family has avoided owning an additional vehicle -- which amounts to thousands of dollars a year.
Carpooling takes time, effort and planning. If you start asking around, I bet you can find a carpool. That's the most effective way.
At least two-thirds of all carpools to work are formed by people who already know each other.
This is ideal, because you know if you are suited for each other, and if you live and work near each other.
The only wild card is DO YOU WORK THE SAME HOURS? Either you compromise on this freedom or you look until you find someone who works the same hours.
Many companies offer flex-time, which makes carpooling more challenging, because employees savor the convenience and freedom of coming and going at their whim.
I suggest carpoolers start with baby steps -- and carpool on an agreed schedule one or two days a week.
If you don't know anyone with whom to carpool, find out if you company belongs to a Transportation Management Association -- TMA. Your Human Resources department, landlord, facilities manager or environmental engineers will know the answer. If so, they likely have the most effective conduit to find a carpool.
In Massachusetts, go to http://www.masscommute.com/ -- where the state's dozen or so TMAs are listed. All but one are in Eastern Massachusetts. The one lone wolf TMA is in Amherst, MA. The rest, like mine, the MetroWest/495 TMA, manage the commute in and around Boston. Most regions of the country that have congested corridors have TMAs, even my home state of Delaware. If Delaware can have a TMA, any state can.
To prove my point that TMAs provide the best system to find a carpool, I have found NINE carpool partners through my TMA and ZERO through at least three other carpool matching sites I'm listed on.
The three other carpool matching sites that have resulted in ZERO matches include the statewide ridematching site in Massachusetts, MassRides -- http://www.commute.com/, which I have been listed on for three years; Carpool World, Go Loco, and at least one other one that I forget, because I've found no matches at them. Every once in a while, they all send me notices saying they're still trying to match me up with someone.
The trouble with most of the carpool matching sites is that they're not focused enough. Their territory covers the entire US or other huge regions. Even the statewide ridematching database in Massachusetts, with only 6 million people, is not focused to be effective.
I work at an intersection with nearly 9,000 other people. Do you think that some of them live near me? YES! I found them because the major employers there with more than 1,000 employees -- belong to a TMA and they promote the ridematching database with their employees.
The hurdles to overcome are:
1. Getting people who have been raised in the second half of the 2oth century who are addicted to car ownership, to consider sharing rides regularly. $4/gallon gas is causing some motivation by pain in the wallet;
2. Getting those interested people to sign up for the carpool matching sites;
3. Getting those people to TRY ONE DAY of carpooling. If that doesn't work, to keep looking for the ideal carpool partner. It takes time, but once a match is made, it can be very enjoyable to carpool with others. "Enjoyable" might mean the opportunity to sleep while your carpool partner drives, or talk or read. Every carpool has a different definition of "enjoyable."
I have passed many enjoyable hours in a carpool, shared information and stories, and made friends I never would have otherwise. In addition, I've saved hundreds of dollars by driving alone less and our family has avoided owning an additional vehicle -- which amounts to thousands of dollars a year.
Carpooling takes time, effort and planning. If you start asking around, I bet you can find a carpool. That's the most effective way.
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