With all the options being handed to citizens of Marin for transportation, SMART rail system, an ineffective bus system, freeway widening to accompany even more cars to create even more, larger future gridlock, there is a very viable alternative that is not even considered, carpooling, more specifically, Casual Carpooling.
What is Casual Carpooling? It is a method of carpooling that had it start in the Bay Area in 1973 when the East Bay bus system, AC Transit, went on strike. People still stood at the bus stops and cars would stop and offer them a ride. The advantages are many. Drivers can now use the carpool lane and not have to pay the toll. Passengers now get a ride for free, are guaranteed a seat and don't have to pay bus fare. It is win/win situation for driver/passenger. It has grown much in the past 33 years. Now there are Casual Carpool spots all over the East Bay from Oakland to Hayward to Antioc. There are maps available that show known Casual Carpool stops. The number of people that use it daily is uncertain because no government agency is involved with it. It is a totally grassroots, guerrilla movement. Estimates are that over 10,000 people use it a day. It has spread to the Washington DC corridor. Millions of rides have happened and there have never been any known problems reported to the police. This maybe in part because to carpool in the East Bay it takes 3 people per vehicle, so 2 people jump in a car at a carpool stop. There are lines of people waiting to get a ride and lines of cars offering poolers rides.
If this has taken on so far as it has without any organization, imagine what could be done if it was organized by a transportation agency such as The Metropolitan Transportation Commission. Marin County should seriously consider implementing a Casual Carpool system. If it done properly, it would have much more an effect than the SMART rail would. Infrastructure is important so that carpool stops would be easily accessible and safe to use. For example a large piece of property on 2nd ST & Lincoln Ave, right near the south 101 freeway entrance is vacant and could be converted into a Casual Carpool stop.
A major problem is that it works very well during the morning commute when everyone is going into a city, traveling to a central location, but there is no method or incentive for people to use it during the evening commute. There is also no infrastructure in the downtown areas of the cities for carpool stops. There would have to be areas where people going to Dublin would meet for a ride and areas where people going to Berkeley would meet for a ride. Probably about separate 20 carpool stops to cover the different regions in East Bay alone. Many of the parking lots that are near the freeway entrances could be converted to carpool stops and would no longer be needed for parking if the system is successful.
Critics of Casual Carpooling have some valid points, that would be mute if a system is created that works. 1. Carpoolers are people that would just take the bus anyway, so it does not lessen the number of cars on the freeway. This can not be proved and if implemented properly, conveniently people would consider it over driving. It is better than mass transit. 2. The way the system is now, the same number of buses have to be on the morning shift then the evening shift (union rules). Since more people take the bus out of the city than going in, there is still the same number of buses on the road, with or without Casual Carpooling. This would change if commuters were able to carpool out of the city. This would change if the proper infrastructure were in place. 3. Commuter buses are a good revenue source for bus companies. The fewer commuter buses, the less money the bus companies stand to make.
The other problem is what incentive would a driver have to give people a ride out of the city. Being able to use the carpool lane is probably not enough. Tolls may have to be set up for both directions. I suggest Carma Credits, where drivers receive vouchers good towards tax on gasoline, tolls, fines, etc... This money would come from tolls and the money saved because the system works. A lotto style system could also be setup where drivers & poolers could win large cash prizes for carpooling.
Why don't people carpool using the old fashion way to carpool. It is rather inconvenient. As a passenger, you depend on the driver. If they are late, don't show up, or if you have to work late you may be stuck without a ride or be late for work. There are always many more people driving from point A to point B then you would think. Another problem is security, which can also be addressed. After all Casual Carpooling is essentially a form of hitchhiking. Which is also a very effective, efficient, underlooked form of alternative transportation, that is my main means of transportation. In 1990, I wrote an article, “Carpool For Cash” for The Marin IJ and was interviewed in The Pacific Sun, on a proposal a system that would use a computer system for carpool matching, that involves security. This is much different than sites like 511.org or icarpool.com. Reprints of the original articles can be seen on a WEB site I have made dedicated to Casual Carpooling www.carpool4cash.com I have recently greatly refined this computer system to make it much more practical, more secure and easier to use. With minimal financing I can quickly have a beta system in place.
With Casual Carpooling, people get to meet other people in their neighborhoods, creating lifelong bonds that are lacking in our present day society. Hopefully the world will be a cleaner, better place, with less gridlock.
Jim Fox is a computer programmer/inventor, co-author of the original PC program WordStar.