Carpool to Save on Gas

Our nation could use a little more "hypermiling culture" ... the idea that fuel is a valuable resource worth husbanding. Every morning's commute sees many, many single occupant vehicles. Carpooling is a simple way to move more people per gallon of gas burned.



If you're interested in vehicles using alternatives to internal combustion engines make sure to visit Save On Gas tomorrow as I'll be doing a post about compressed air cars.

Carpooling Website

Here is a video demo of a website based system called Rides Near Me to help people carpool. Carpooling can be a great way to save on gas. One of the biggest obstacles to carpooling is the social networking necessary to find someone to carpool with. Websites like this can help out in this area.

Car Pool : Save Money, Time and Gas

Carpooling is an incredibly simple way to save on money, time and gas. Commuting to work and back again is predictable and thus easily included in a carpool schedule. What are you waiting for! Check into carpooling to your workplace!

Carpool and Save Some Gas (and maybe the world)

It is pretty easy to notice how many cars are traveling with a single occupant. There are a lot of empty seat miles going to waste every day. If four people ride in one car as opposed to four cars, the gasoline used will be almost one quarter. Especially for fixed routes that you take all the time and know ahead of time (like commuting to and from work) there are almost no negatives. It is great to have a car for unplanned trips and to give you the freedom to go where and when you want. But for the commute to work, most of us have no freedom anyway. You have to leave at a certain time to arrive at a fixed place on their clock, not yours. So carpooling to and from work leaves you with pretty much the same degree of freedom but costs only a fraction of the gas!

Want to Share a Zipcar?

The very best way to save on gas is not to drive. One way to cut back on driving is not to own a car. That is a pretty drastic way to save on gas though. What about the times when you need a car, or having one would be a lot more convenient? This is where car sharing programs come in. These programs are a step beyond carpooling, where you share your personal car because the idea is you don't have to own a car at all.

Zipcar is a car sharing program that lets you reserve a car for a time of your choosing. Could be a couple of hours to get some groceries or a couple of days to go on a business trip. You can pay on different plans. Their basic plan has you paying $50 a year as membership fee and then $7 an hour for car time, or $69 daily. The car time price includes gas and insurance. Zipcar is responsible for keeping the fleet in tip top mechanical shape.

Clearly you can save a lot of money on the price of a car this way. If you don't drive much, you can spend as little as hundreds of dollars a year reserving a Zipcar only when you really have to. The tens of thousands of dollars you could have spent on a car stays in your pocket. But does it help you save on gas? Gas is included in the reservation price of the Zipcar, so moneywise it is difficult to say. You have to separate out the insurance, maintenance, etc. costs. It also depends on the fluctuating price of gasoline.

In terms of amount of gasoline used, you will save on gas if the Zipcar of your choice is more fuel efficient than a car you would personally own. That is impossible to answer. But big savings would come from you driving less. Having your own car that you can just jump into without having to reserve time encourages you to make a lot of gas wasting small trips. Using a Zipcar will motivate you to plan your trips. Combining many small trips into one or walking or using public transport for some things can reduce the miles you drive. And reducing miles driven is the very best way to save on gas.

Carpool When You Can

Carpooling can be a simple change in your habits that might lead to a big savings on gas. A vehicle with four people is much lighter than four vehicles with four people. This alone means a large gain in fuel economy. If you have a regular commute look around to see if any neighbours are heading in the same direction and split the gas bill. Also if you find yourself driving all over the map to visit friends, meet clients or take care of other chores consider offering rides to friends and associates. Then split the gas bill. Both of you will save something on gas. Carpooling can easily be a win win situation!