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Carpooling: 4 Benefits You Haven’t Considered

Happy family riding in a car

January 31, 2020 Topic: Tech Talks

With the end of summer quickly approaching, the upcoming school year is almost upon us. Soon, the everyday rush and headache of getting the kids to and from school will be added to our daily list of things to do. Luckily, carpooling and ridesharing exist to alleviate some of this hassle, and offers many benefits that you should consider.

 

Save Money

The average household spends hundreds of dollars on gasoline each school year, carting the kids to and from school and after school activities. By being involved in carpooling, you may only have to make the school run once or twice a week. Imagine the savings you could accumulate by reducing these back and forth trips!

Reduce Traffic

Austin and the surrounding areas are well known for the volume of traffic. Texas A&M recently ranked Austin as having the 10th worst traffic in the US, while the INRIX named Austin as the fourth most congested city in the US, costing the state over $201 million a year. By utilizing carpooling programs at your child’s school, you could help cut back on that congestion. Carpooling also reduces your carbon footprint by hugely benefitting the environment. Fewer cars sitting in traffic means fewer carbon, pollution, and harmful gas emissions being released into the atmosphere. This protects the environment by keeping the air, water, and land much cleaner.

Convenience

Nothing beats the convenience of having a reliable carpooling system. By only being responsible for pick-up/drop-off once or twice a week, you will have more time for other activities/errands. Even on the few days you are responsible for driving, your duty is quite painless: carpools in your community are designed to service certain clusters of houses or parts of neighborhoods, where the kids live relatively closely together. The back-to-school rush will soon be no big deal with carpooling.

Build Relationships

Your connections with the other parents, the people in your community, as well as with the school faculty will blossom. Your children will also love the experience as they make new friends and meet new people. They might even look forward to going to school, if their friends will be riding with them!

Make a difference this school year and consider carpooling or ridesharing. Carpooling opens you up to many new opportunities and relationships, helps you save time and money, while also helping the environment. Talk to your child’s school administration to join existing carpools for your area, or form your own!