Carpooling with craigslist
 

I've found that I can maximize saving gas and saving money best by carpooling. In March of 2010, I placed an ad on craigslist under the "rideshare" directory and waited to see what kind of scariness would follow. I sort of expected to get spam and nothing else in response, but the response I got was overwhelming. Because I had so many people contact me, I was able to pick and choose the two people I thought might be the most reliable and who had work hours similar to mine.

Long story short, the three of us are all still carpooling together and it has been amazing. Both women who ride with me work for other employers, but they are near my office. They both meet me at my house in the morning and I do all of the driving (being a conscientious hypermiler with an economical car), dropping them off where they work and picking them up again at the end of the day. Carpooling adds an additional 10-15 minutes to my commute each way, which is very acceptable to me.

My fuel economy took a hit when I started doing this, but not too badly. My average right now is 28.3 mpg. Multiply that times 3 people = 84.98 mpg.

And the best part? They split the cost of each tank of gas between them 50/50. :)

I'm sure those ladies are glad you took that step in the dark! I don't know if I'd be as brave as you and go through craigslist for something like that, but it's nice to hear the success stories! :) Lots of REAL people do use craigslist! ;)

Back in the day, before Internet, I did the same thing. Only we called it hitchhiking.

I remember I could hitchhike more miles in one day than I could drive. Several times, I hitched 1000 miles in one day. The most I ever drove was 900.

Great way to save gas and meet interesting people. Once got picked up by a young woman with a baby. She was going to a bridge club meeting and wanted a conversational topic, so she picked up a hitchhiker.

Hitchhiking would take some guts! Anymore, I don't think that would be a good idea. I bet it was an adventure, though.

And yes, I think both ladies appreciate the carpool situation. They both hate driving (and I like to drive) and both have larger vehicles that suck down gas.