Carpooling is a practice that's become more prevalent in recent years, thanks to the string of environmental, social and financial benefits it can bring.

If you're considering setting up a carpool, either for your colleagues or for other workers who might happen to share the same route, then it's worth taking stock of the benefits, and a few of the costs, too.

What Are the Benefits of Carpooling?

Carpooling, or ridesharing, offers a wide range of benefits for individuals and communities alike. Here are some of these advantages:

Saving You Money

When you get a lift into work, you’ll end up spending less money. You’ll have to chip in for the fuel, but you’ll be either splitting the cost with your fellow passengers, or taking fewer journeys. We should also factor in the maintenance savings: cars that aren’t being driven tend to suffer from less wear and tear.

Helping the Environment

Fewer passenger miles means fewer emissions. Petrol and diesel cars produce around 170g of carbon dioxide-equivalent per passenger kilometer. If you can split this in quarters, then you’ll be more efficient than the local bus. The same applies in the case of electric cars, which come with an environmental cost (even if it’s lower in the long term than that of a fossil-fuel vehicle.

Providing Social benefits

Your carpool will provide a space for early-morning and evening chatter, and can help you to find some common ground with your fellow employees, outside of a work context. If you have the company of some good friends during your commute, then you might find that the time goes more quickly – and that you even look forward to your trips.

Less Stressful Commutes 

Carpooling allows passengers to relax or be productive during their commute, as they are not behind the wheel. This makes for less stressful and more enjoyable journeys. Fewer solo trips mean less wear and tear on personal vehicles, extending their lifespan and reducing maintenance costs. Carpooling offers the opportunity to socialize with friends or meet new people, making the commute more enjoyable.

How to Set up a Carpool

With all of these practical benefits in mind, we might wonder why carpooling isn’t ubiquitous. Well, the fact is that setting up a carpool can be difficult. You’ll need several colleagues who are within a short distance of one another for the scheme to be effective. In a workplace with high staff turnover, this might be tricky. 

What’s more, the savings are often not as noticeable as you might assume if you were to naively divide your fuel consumption by the number of passengers. In some cases, there’s quite a bit of driving back and forth involved – which often means that a single driver (the one who lives furthest from work) has to assume most of the responsibility. The drivers will also need to make sure that they are covered by car insurance.  

Workplaces and local authorities can do their bit to incentivise carpooling, and to allow would-be carpoolers to network with one another. Do it right, and your workers will enjoy the many benefits of this practice!