Keepin’ it casual in SF
the weird & wonderfully wired worlds of technology, transportation & the sharing economy
Background
Relatively little is known about casual carpoolers and their true motivation. Why does it exist in only three cities in the US? What do these places have in common? Who are these people and what drives them to use an unregulated, ungoverned system? What does the persistence of casual carpool say about the society we live in today? How has this no-tech bubble survived in the software capital of the world?
That’s exactly what Carma asked themselves last year, before deciding to do something about it. In conjunction with the TSRC at UC Berkeley we have spent the last 9 months researching, surveying, counting, riding along and surveying (there was a lot of surveying) to try to get an answer to some of these questions. In this time we have been surprised and wowed by the casual carpooling community, and interacting with them has only made us want to learn more.
If you (like me!) get your nerd on about transportation, sustainable solutions or any part of the cross-section between these, keep an eye on my blog. There’s much to come.
The Bay Area is known for being a hub of innovation, a home to hippies, a source of natural beauty, and is referred to as the software capital of the world. This environment has been the incubator for many amazing, society-altering ideas. Some have come to fruition and changed our lives as we know them. Others, for all their world-changing potential, failed just like three out of every four startups.
In recent years we have seen the Sharing Economy rise. Stories like the success and rapid expansion of AirBnB (2008), Uber (2009), Carma (2007), and even crowd funding companies like Indigogo (2008) have been in the spotlight. However, one social sharing solution has been overlooked as these new systems of travel, finance and accommodation emerge.
The Most Overlooked Sharing System in SF
The true grassroots example of the Sharing Economy
In San Francisco, Houston and Washington DC a system has been in place for decades, weathering Dot-Com bubbles, economic depression and clashes with local government regulation. In the Bay Area commuters banded together and developed a solution to rising parking costs in the city (up to $30/day) and found a way to avoid morning congestion leading to the SF Bay Bridge by taking advantage of existing HOV lane infrastructure. These two extra people weren’t neighbors, colleagues or friends; they were perfect strangers. What they had in common was a shared problem and a desire for an efficient solution. They called it “Casual Carpooling”.
How Does It Work?
Their solution to finding these extra people to travel with was not what you might first assume — an awesome tech answer to an everyday problem. Isn’t that what this incubator city is all about after all? I saw no other possible option in tech-centric San Francisco, I would have bet on it!
I could not have been more wrong. The solution is not even low-tech, it is as no-tech as if the Amish were its forefathers. This is truly grassroots — hitchhiking has more technology!
Twenty-three locations in the East Bay have ‘Casual Carpool’ pick up locations that have two possible drop-off locations in San Francisco. The process is simple: riders line up on the curb, drivers arrive and allow two passengers into their car. The newly formed carpool then darts off in the direction of the highway. Once the passengers alight in San Francisco these three people go their separate ways and may never meet again.
Benefits
The concept is one of mutual benefit, not of profit. Riders benefit by getting a free, comfortable ride into the city and drivers halve their commute time by avoiding congestion getting on to the Bay Bridge (why there are still cash toll booths operating baffles me!). The benefit to both is that they never sacrifice their flexibility.
This blog was written in conjunction with www.carmacarpool.com
