During the winter of 2008, I was amazed when gas prices crept over $3.50 a gallon (not to mention when it went over $4.00).  When this happened, I asked a buddy from work if he wanted to start car pooling.  We have the perfect scenario, he only live 2 miles from my house, and his house was on the way to work for me.

The arrangement was, we would alternate weeks of driving, so for first week, I drove, the next week he drove, then me, then him…

My Benefits from Car Pooling:

1. Lowered my monthly gas spending from $180 to $90.
2. Reduced the wear and tear on my car by 1/2.
3. I did my part to try to reduce oil prices by car pooling.
4. I cut the carbon emissions I produced by half.
5. Cut down on traffic on the highway by 1 car.
6. Freed up 1 parking spot at work (our lot is pretty full, or was…).
7. It’s nice to ride some mornings, instead of driving.

Once the gas prices fell to the low $2 range, we stopped car pooling at that time because of conflicts in schedules.  However, if prices creep back up to the $3.50 or higher, we said we would start car pooling again.

Near the end of our car pool trips, we both started telecommuting once a week, and that was even better!

Below is the ultimate solution to high gas prices, if the weather and distance permits (which in my case, it doesn’t).

Don

Update, I forgot to add a few additional benefits:

• If you’re in an accident, you have a captive witness (unlikely, but still nice).
• Forces you to adhere to a more strict timetable, you don’t want to be late or pickup your buddy late.