On Morning Edition, NPR reported on programs that pay commuters to carpool to work. Based on a successful program in Atlanta, drivers in Washington D.C. can now earn $2 a day to carpool with another driver. Carpooling saves money, wear and tear on vehicles, the environment and lessens the congestion on our roads. It also provides the benefit of human companionship while driving. The program grows from the belief that people will change their behavior if there is an incentive and after a while, their behavior will be a habit ingrained and the incentive can be taken away. More politically popular than tolls, which are put in place to discourage single drivers and reduce traffic congestion, incentive programs are shown to work.
Reader, what do you think of such a program? Have you participated in anything similar? Do you carpool to work? If not, why?
Interesting. I like the idea.
I don’t carpool to work because I work at home two days/week. The other three days, I drive my daughter to school and then finish the final two miles of my trip. Next year, however, my daughter will be at a new school and will be able to ride the school bus, so I won’t need to drive at all. I’ll either walk to the bus stop and take it to work or just bike the four miles.