Three things you didn’t know about Casual Carpoolers

On hearing about Casual Carpooling most people have a similar reaction — they wonder why someone would take their lives in their hands every day, risk robbery or worse, all to save a few bucks. How could they take part in something that has no supervision, no structure? Do they realize they are voluntarily getting in a car with complete strangers?

In my experience it’s a fairly common reaction, an understandable fear of the unknown. However, a quick look at the facts will show that from over 12,500* Casual Carpoolers in the Bay Area alone, who ride together every morning, there have been no reports of crimes taking place within the community. In fact, statistically** you have more chance of getting mugged or assaulted on a bus or walking to the store than you do while Casual Carpooling!

(Not too sure what casual carpooling is ? Check out my intro blog — I’ve got you covered!)

Three common misconceptions

I’ll admit it, I made a lot of assumptions before I ever met a Casual Carpooler or started research with Carma and UC Berkeley. I now realize that these opinions, which I rashly decided were fact, are shared by most people new to the concept of casual carpooling.

One: The No-Choice Commuter

Having spent countless hours casual carpooling from the East Bay into the city, I can say with certainty that Casual Carpoolers are by far the savviest commuters I have met. In contrast to what I initially assumed, these are not people who see themselves as tied to a ‘sub-par’, socially awkward commute. For a large proportion of riders cost is definitely a motivating factor. However, 38% of these people earn over $100k per year. This tells me that they weighed up all the options available to them and Casual Carpooling came out on top. But then again, why wouldn’t it? It costs max $1 per trip, from Oakland, it’s about 25 min faster than driving alone and you are guaranteed a seat each day (one of the main reasons poolers switch from BART).

These people are smart.

Two: The Male Commuter

In my naïve world where Casual Carpooling was as unnecessarily dangerous as a human catapult, I assumed that the wait lines would be made up exclusively of men; probably strong ex-marine types, maybe a few pro wrestlers. Surely only they would be capable of taking on these knife wielding scoundrels I had conjured up. To my utter embarrassment, I was proven wrong once more. The population is 51% professional female, and as far as I can tell none of these are pro wrestlers.

Three: The Hyper-Efficient Commuter

While this is partially true (these people are smart!), I also assumed that these commuters would be dashing for the city before the traffic began to pile on in earnest. When I then learned that 63% of casual carpools form after 8am, I may have actually fallen off my chair. Could it be that these people run late just like me? Do they also leave their carefully-packed lunch sitting on the kitchen counter all day…three times a week? It turns out that individually they aren’t the perfect commuter, but together they have formed a system that relies on this casual behavior. This system allows you to be late and get into the city just as cheaply and quickly as the early bird. It is the ultimate example of the Shared Economy: efficient, yet utterly reliant on the whole for supply and demand.

I now realize how much I underestimated the casual carpooler. They aren’t perfect, but they are part of a grassroots system which is as close to perfect as I’ve seen. This system tells us a lot about what we can do as a society. While we previously blamed our transportation woes on inept governing or inadequate funding, companies and individuals have proven that the answer is not always an increase in infrastructure, which is both financially and environmentally expensive. We have the resources, we just need to pool together and use them more efficiently. We need to burst our bubbles of solitude and share.

*number extrapolated from MTC casual carpool report 2011 based on 15 East Bay pick up locations. The exact total number of casual carpools daily is unknown. http://www.mtc.ca.gov/library/CasualCarpool_summary_2011.pdf

** “The number of serious violent crimes reported in June 2013 was the highest monthly total in more than five years“ http://sfcontroller.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=4957

This blog was written in conjunction with www.carmacarpool.com