Are Utah Valley people realizing the full energy-saving benefits available through carpools?
It’s getting more expensive to drive to work alone. If you drive a subcompact 10 miles to work each day it costs you $646 annually, according to a recent Federal Highway Administration study. If you drive a standard size car it costs you $948. But commuting with one other person you can cut these costs in half.
The Better Business Bureau, in a recent bulletin, suggests that if you’re driving alone, it will pay you to double up with someone if possible.
Here in Utah Valley our money and energy saving possibilities may not be as great as in metropolitan areas. Nevertheless people do indeed travel distances to work – from almost any point in the valley to Geneva Works, BYU government offices or locations of other significant employers; to points in Salt Lake Valley, etc.
More and more people are joining carpools across the nation, according to the Consumer Information Department of the Council of Better Business Bureaus in Washington. In fact, carpools carry more than 20 million commuters each day, more than twice as many as buses and fixed rail systems combined.
In addition to saving expenses for gas and parking, you cut down on car maintenance when someone else shares the driving.
Other carpool benefits may include less physical exertion, reliable transportation, a guaranteed comfortable seat, being able to select riders, and freeing the family car for other use.
Large employers might be encouraged to establish a carpool “match-up” program if they don’t have one.
If you join a carpool it’s a good idea to check your insurance policy. Insurance regulations vary from state to state. Generally, a carpool passenger is covered just like any other passenger in your car.
However, if one carpool member performs all the driving and charges the other riders a flat fee, not necessarily reflecting an exact share of the cost, you may run into problems. In this instance, the driver may be operating a “public livery conveyance” in which case he or she may need additional insurance.
Another point to investigate: If you are not driving your car to work every day, you may be able to reduce your insurance costs. Check with your insurance agent.
Says Better Business Bureau: More carpools mean less traffic congestion, less air pollution, and more energy conservation. If the occupancy of all 50 million commuting cars were two persons per car, the United States would save more than 500,000 barrels of oil daily and remove 15 million cars from the road. Those are impressive statistics.