The Car Pool Thread

minimalist · 26th October 2013, 19:47

Hello everyone
Ill be driving from mumbai to nasik on Tuesday 29th October, in the morning
Feel free to join

Turbo_Torq · 21st November 2013, 04:42

This thought just crossed my mind while waiting for MSRTC Shivneri on my way to Pune. Leching on every passing car for any sight for a TBhp sticker on it's hiney, I pondered over the possibility of meeting and greeting a member who's gonna be traversing along the same route; I'd rather spend some quality time conversing with an auto freak than those aliens travelling in the bus*

So, this thread is for those helpless and 'parched' TBhpians on the highway who could do with some help and in turn, share some expenses as well as automotive and general knowledge.

*Well, most people. I once met a very, fine young girl who interacted with me quite nicely!

Mods, please move to the appropriate section if needed. :-)

Turbo_Torq · 24th November 2013, 18:03

Anyone travelling back to Mumbai from Pune anytime tomorrow?

rahul525 · 31st January 2014, 16:30

Kudos to all those you have been able to get some success with car pooling .

In a recent study by Yale University , India’s air quality was ranked among the bottom 5 countries in the world. The survey also disputably ranked Delhi as the most polluted city in the world. Though that may not be true, as being argued upon by our environmentalists, no one can dispute that Delhi is one of the most polluted cities in the world.

Add to that the poor urban planning and proliferation of high rise apartment complexes in NCR towns, particularly in Noida and Ghaziabad, air quality in NCR is all set to get worst in the years to come. What is also getting worse is the traffic on the roads of the NCR region. The influx of population in NCR is so high that each passing day seems to bring more commuters into the Delhi metro system. At the same time, the traffic on the roads is increasing as well, as young educated migrants are buying their first cars and older ones who are well settled go for their second (and in some cases third) cars . I am sure that the authorities are conducting forecasting studies to predict the future burden on the already choked Delhi metro and road infrastructure in NCR.
While China is also facing similar problems, it has responded quickly by imposing a limit on the number of private vehicles that can be sold each year. Chinese authorities were also quick in encouraging car pooling. Sadly, in our country the concept of car pooling is yet to take off in a big way due to lack of commitment from the stakeholders concerned and some unique challenges being faced by us.
Below are my thoughts on the concept of car pooling and why it should be of interest to various stakeholders. Also mentioned are the key hurdles, IMO , in adopting carpooling in India and NCR in particular.

Car pooling benefit for Car Poolers:
• Reduce fuel costs
• Reduce vehicle maintenance costs
• Reduce travel fatigue (if you are a rider only or taking turns in driving )
• Feel proud of reducing your carbon foot print , reducing pollution levels
• Get to know your neighbors/colleagues in office/home

Benefits for Employers:
• Less burden on the office parking space
• Improvement in employee productivity/morale ( as employees have less travel fatigue, show a sense of discipline , feel good about saving on vehicle running cost , socializing and reducing pollution)
• Feel proud of fulfilling one of your CSRs on reducing carbon footprints associated with running the business

Benefits for Police/Administration/Government:
• Easy to manage traffic as less cars on the roads.
• Government can take pride in doing its bit for reducing air/noise pollution

Benefits for public at large:
• Less traffic means less time to reach destination means better quality of life
• Less air /noise pollution leading to better quality of life
• Improve ranking of our cities in the list of polluted cities

Challenges in car pooling: I would like to list the challenges in the form of survey to know how you relate to one or more of them.
Please think of challenges(s) which you think are the reasons for you not doing car pooling:
• Never given a thought to it
• Car pooling would negatively impact my social status
• Interested in car pooling but don’t know how to go about it
• Interested in car pooling and have registered with one/more of the dozens of car pooling websites but still waiting for the car pool partners.
• Understand car pooling but too lazy to go for car pooling and would not rather have the hassle of car pooling
• Safely concerns in travelling with unknown/lesser known people.
• Awkward to transact in money for the rides offered /taken. Am I a driver?
• Don’t have fixed timings every day.
• Have to drop spouse/kids to office/school.
• Have to go for daily needs shopping every other day while coming back from office in the evening.
• Obsessed with my vehicle and the privacy it provides and would not think of riding with anyone other than the family members
• I am a lady and interested in female only pool for security reasons but hard to find such a pool

Features required in car pooling website:
• HR verification ( in case of employees) for increased assurance of the safely of the car poolers
• Website/app should be seamlessly available on web/Android/iOS
• Ability to transact in virtual money
• Ability to search for posted car pools based on exact or flexible start and end times
• Ability for a rider passenger to search based on not only source and destination endpoint but also on any of the intermediate points along the route and the option to be flexible in terms of KMs for pickup and drop off points
• Get on board as many employees of as many companies as possible to have a high probability of a match
• Integration with Google maps to show the pictorial representation of the route and the intermediate points
• Ability of members to rate each other based on their car pooling experience
• Ability to create regular pool as well as one off pool.
• Carbon footprint reduction calculator
• Have PR /Ad campaigns involving celebrities, police authorities

On a slightly different but related note, I was going through one of the lessons in the Environment Studies Book of an 8 yr old student. The lesson was on the 3 R’ of Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. It reminds the reader to reduce burden on natural resources by reducing consumption and eliminating waste, and by reusing and recycling stuff as and where possible. I think that we (including yours truly), the corporate and the government are not doing enough to make this a reality. Many of the big electronic manufactures which have really nice recycling programs in developed countries don’t have any such recycling program in India. Our government seem to be failing in coming up with stricter and effective regulations on dealing with electronic waste. Many of us have been piling up electronic waste in our house or disposing it off with the local kabadiwalas. E waste management is a separate topic to be reserved for another day on another thread.

doble u · 12th March 2014, 14:37

Dear Members,

Today I got to know about Folksvagn (http://www.folksvagn.com/index.php) through their marketing blitz in front of our office.

It works something like this - All members set their travel time and mode using their website or the mobile app. The system then uses some algorithms to update us with most feasible co-travelers based on various parameters. We can then request/accept other members we wish to travel with. Payments also happen directly on the mobile app/website.

They are suggesting to take Rs 3.5/Km in case we are the passengers and will pay by Rs 3/Km to the driver.

While this sounds interesting, I am requesting fellow BHPians to share any experience if they have used this service. This is practically beneficial to people like me who travel ~100 Km everyday between Delhi and Noida

Mods - I tried to search this forum for any precedents and the search came a cropper. Basis that I am starting a new thread. You can merge/modify accordingly.

ramzsys · 14th May 2014, 23:37

Bored of sitting in the buses for the weekend Bangalore-Coimbatore-Bangalore shuttling, so might take the seat behind the wheels; in this way, hope i can escape from the Madiwala mosquitos lol.

3 seats available.

minimalist · 15th May 2014, 00:20

Anyone interested in joining Mumbai to bangalore 24th may early morning

seby_v · 15th May 2014, 09:29

I am planning to travel from Bangalore to Kanjirapally, Kerala on 23rd evening or 24th early morning. Anyone interested to join in?

SRTH1987 · 9th July 2014, 10:01

Planning to drive from Chennai to Bangalore this friday and back on Sunday night. Anybody interested please let me know. Thanks.

praful · 28th October 2014, 19:59

**Bump**

Thought I'd repost in this thread instead of opening a new thread. Posting a month in advance this time. LoL!

Driving down to Mumbai on 29th November (plan may move a day backward or forward depending on my situation then. But for now its 90% for 29th November.

Have place for 1 person, 2 if they are travelling light.

Will not have space on my return drive back on 29/30 December, so its a one way ticket

alpha1 · 29th October 2014, 13:10

Did you manage to get a co-passenger last time?

dass · 29th October 2014, 13:24

This is interesting. I hope you do find passengers to travel with you and then probably you could share the pro's and con's of doing this to help others plan accordingly.

jkrishnakj · 29th October 2014, 19:08

+ 1 to the above from Dass. Will be good to know your experience, given I keep doing Bangalore-Pune-Bangalore once a month these days. Always good if someone can share the fuel and the toll ( quite a bit, isn't it? )

And not just that, you have company for a good 12-14 hours for the drive.

Kumar R · 29th October 2014, 19:24

This is a great idea. Each time I think of going on a long ride I am refrained due to lack of company who has interest (and who can share the wheel). Praful, if this works for you, maybe I will also post a similar thread (albeit for a shorter distance)

RSUDARSANAN · 29th October 2014, 20:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by jkrishnakj

+ 1 to the above from Dass. Will be good to know your experience, given I keep doing Bangalore-Pune-Bangalore once a month these days. Always good if someone can share the fuel and the toll ( quite a bit, isn't it? )

And not just that, you have company for a good 12-14 hours for the drive.

My two cents: Unless the co-passenger is travelling for the fun of the drive, a 30 day advance AIR fare, in the best of times, would be around Rs. 2600/- for BLR-PNQ which maybe marginally higher than fuel and the toll exp.s divided by two. From a time and cost perspective not a sweet deal.

Should work for short distances.

Also flexi dates not a viable option for the co-passenger.

26th October 2013, 19:47	#91
minimalist Newbie Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: Mumbai Posts: 16 Thanked: 9 Times	Hello everyone Ill be driving from mumbai to nasik on Tuesday 29th October, in the morning Feel free to join
	() Thanks

21st November 2013, 04:42	#92
Turbo_Torq BHPian Join Date: Sep 2013 Location: Everywhere Posts: 184 Thanked: 72 Times	Hitchhiking thread This thought just crossed my mind while waiting for MSRTC Shivneri on my way to Pune. Leching on every passing car for any sight for a TBhp sticker on it's hiney, I pondered over the possibility of meeting and greeting a member who's gonna be traversing along the same route; I'd rather spend some quality time conversing with an auto freak than those aliens travelling in the bus* So, this thread is for those helpless and 'parched' TBhpians on the highway who could do with some help and in turn, share some expenses as well as automotive and general knowledge. *Well, most people. I once met a very, fine young girl who interacted with me quite nicely! Mods, please move to the appropriate section if needed. :-)
	() Thanks

24th November 2013, 18:03	#93
Turbo_Torq BHPian Join Date: Sep 2013 Location: Everywhere Posts: 184 Thanked: 72 Times	re: The Car Pool Thread Anyone travelling back to Mumbai from Pune anytime tomorrow?
	() Thanks

31st January 2014, 16:30	#94
rahul525 Newbie Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Noida Posts: 0 Thanked: 0 Times	re: The Car Pool Thread Kudos to all those you have been able to get some success with car pooling . In a recent study by Yale University , India’s air quality was ranked among the bottom 5 countries in the world. The survey also disputably ranked Delhi as the most polluted city in the world. Though that may not be true, as being argued upon by our environmentalists, no one can dispute that Delhi is one of the most polluted cities in the world. Add to that the poor urban planning and proliferation of high rise apartment complexes in NCR towns, particularly in Noida and Ghaziabad, air quality in NCR is all set to get worst in the years to come. What is also getting worse is the traffic on the roads of the NCR region. The influx of population in NCR is so high that each passing day seems to bring more commuters into the Delhi metro system. At the same time, the traffic on the roads is increasing as well, as young educated migrants are buying their first cars and older ones who are well settled go for their second (and in some cases third) cars . I am sure that the authorities are conducting forecasting studies to predict the future burden on the already choked Delhi metro and road infrastructure in NCR. While China is also facing similar problems, it has responded quickly by imposing a limit on the number of private vehicles that can be sold each year. Chinese authorities were also quick in encouraging car pooling. Sadly, in our country the concept of car pooling is yet to take off in a big way due to lack of commitment from the stakeholders concerned and some unique challenges being faced by us. Below are my thoughts on the concept of car pooling and why it should be of interest to various stakeholders. Also mentioned are the key hurdles, IMO , in adopting carpooling in India and NCR in particular. Car pooling benefit for Car Poolers: • Reduce fuel costs • Reduce vehicle maintenance costs • Reduce travel fatigue (if you are a rider only or taking turns in driving ) • Feel proud of reducing your carbon foot print , reducing pollution levels • Get to know your neighbors/colleagues in office/home Benefits for Employers: • Less burden on the office parking space • Improvement in employee productivity/morale ( as employees have less travel fatigue, show a sense of discipline , feel good about saving on vehicle running cost , socializing and reducing pollution) • Feel proud of fulfilling one of your CSRs on reducing carbon footprints associated with running the business Benefits for Police/Administration/Government: • Easy to manage traffic as less cars on the roads. • Government can take pride in doing its bit for reducing air/noise pollution Benefits for public at large: • Less traffic means less time to reach destination means better quality of life • Less air /noise pollution leading to better quality of life • Improve ranking of our cities in the list of polluted cities Challenges in car pooling: I would like to list the challenges in the form of survey to know how you relate to one or more of them. Please think of challenges(s) which you think are the reasons for you not doing car pooling: • Never given a thought to it • Car pooling would negatively impact my social status • Interested in car pooling but don’t know how to go about it • Interested in car pooling and have registered with one/more of the dozens of car pooling websites but still waiting for the car pool partners. • Understand car pooling but too lazy to go for car pooling and would not rather have the hassle of car pooling • Safely concerns in travelling with unknown/lesser known people. • Awkward to transact in money for the rides offered /taken. Am I a driver? • Don’t have fixed timings every day. • Have to drop spouse/kids to office/school. • Have to go for daily needs shopping every other day while coming back from office in the evening. • Obsessed with my vehicle and the privacy it provides and would not think of riding with anyone other than the family members • I am a lady and interested in female only pool for security reasons but hard to find such a pool Features required in car pooling website: • HR verification ( in case of employees) for increased assurance of the safely of the car poolers • Website/app should be seamlessly available on web/Android/iOS • Ability to transact in virtual money • Ability to search for posted car pools based on exact or flexible start and end times • Ability for a rider passenger to search based on not only source and destination endpoint but also on any of the intermediate points along the route and the option to be flexible in terms of KMs for pickup and drop off points • Get on board as many employees of as many companies as possible to have a high probability of a match • Integration with Google maps to show the pictorial representation of the route and the intermediate points • Ability of members to rate each other based on their car pooling experience • Ability to create regular pool as well as one off pool. • Carbon footprint reduction calculator • Have PR /Ad campaigns involving celebrities, police authorities On a slightly different but related note, I was going through one of the lessons in the Environment Studies Book of an 8 yr old student. The lesson was on the 3 R’ of Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. It reminds the reader to reduce burden on natural resources by reducing consumption and eliminating waste, and by reusing and recycling stuff as and where possible. I think that we (including yours truly), the corporate and the government are not doing enough to make this a reality. Many of the big electronic manufactures which have really nice recycling programs in developed countries don’t have any such recycling program in India. Our government seem to be failing in coming up with stricter and effective regulations on dealing with electronic waste. Many of us have been piling up electronic waste in our house or disposing it off with the local kabadiwalas. E waste management is a separate topic to be reserved for another day on another thread.
	() Thanks

12th March 2014, 14:37	#95
doble u Newbie Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Delhi Posts: 20 Thanked: 12 Times	folksvagn - The new Car Pool Website Dear Members, Today I got to know about Folksvagn (http://www.folksvagn.com/index.php) through their marketing blitz in front of our office. It works something like this - All members set their travel time and mode using their website or the mobile app. The system then uses some algorithms to update us with most feasible co-travelers based on various parameters. We can then request/accept other members we wish to travel with. Payments also happen directly on the mobile app/website. They are suggesting to take Rs 3.5/Km in case we are the passengers and will pay by Rs 3/Km to the driver. While this sounds interesting, I am requesting fellow BHPians to share any experience if they have used this service. This is practically beneficial to people like me who travel ~100 Km everyday between Delhi and Noida Mods - I tried to search this forum for any precedents and the search came a cropper. Basis that I am starting a new thread. You can merge/modify accordingly.
	() Thanks

14th May 2014, 23:37	#96
ramzsys Senior - BHPian Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: NH209 Posts: 1,775 Thanked: 1,462 Times	Re: The Car Pool Thread Bored of sitting in the buses for the weekend Bangalore-Coimbatore-Bangalore shuttling, so might take the seat behind the wheels; in this way, hope i can escape from the Madiwala mosquitos lol. 3 seats available.
	() Thanks

15th May 2014, 00:20	#97
minimalist Newbie Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: Mumbai Posts: 16 Thanked: 9 Times	Anyone interested in joining Mumbai to bangalore 24th may early morning
	() Thanks

15th May 2014, 09:29	#98
seby_v Newbie Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Bangalore Posts: 24 Thanked: 0 Times	Re: The Car Pool Thread I am planning to travel from Bangalore to Kanjirapally, Kerala on 23rd evening or 24th early morning. Anyone interested to join in?
	() Thanks

9th July 2014, 10:01	#99
SRTH1987 BHPian Join Date: May 2014 Location: Chennai Posts: 67 Thanked: 93 Times	Re: The Car Pool Thread Planning to drive from Chennai to Bangalore this friday and back on Sunday night. Anybody interested please let me know. Thanks.
	() Thanks

28th October 2014, 19:59	#100
praful Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Paris Posts: 1,020 Thanked: 611 Times View My Garage	Re: BLR-Mumbai-BLR : Looking for Copassengers Bump Thought I'd repost in this thread instead of opening a new thread. Posting a month in advance this time. LoL! Driving down to Mumbai on 29th November (plan may move a day backward or forward depending on my situation then. But for now its 90% for 29th November. Have place for 1 person, 2 if they are travelling light. Will not have space on my return drive back on 29/30 December, so its a one way ticket
	() Thanks

29th October 2014, 13:10	#101
alpha1 Senior - BHPian Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: LandOfNoWinters Posts: 2,093 Thanked: 2,602 Times	Re: BLR-Mumbai-BLR : Looking for Copassengers Did you manage to get a co-passenger last time?
	() Thanks

29th October 2014, 13:24	#102
dass Senior - BHPian Join Date: May 2008 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,291 Thanked: 737 Times	Re: BLR-Mumbai-BLR : Looking for Copassengers This is interesting. I hope you do find passengers to travel with you and then probably you could share the pro's and con's of doing this to help others plan accordingly.
	() Thanks

29th October 2014, 19:08	#103
jkrishnakj Senior - BHPian Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,667 Thanked: 4,139 Times	Re: BLR-Mumbai-BLR : Looking for Copassengers + 1 to the above from Dass. Will be good to know your experience, given I keep doing Bangalore-Pune-Bangalore once a month these days. Always good if someone can share the fuel and the toll ( quite a bit, isn't it? )And not just that, you have company for a good 12-14 hours for the drive.
	() Thanks

29th October 2014, 19:24	#104
Kumar R BHPian Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Account closed Posts: 315 Thanked: 1,005 Times	Re: BLR-Mumbai-BLR : Looking for Copassengers This is a great idea. Each time I think of going on a long ride I am refrained due to lack of company who has interest (and who can share the wheel). Praful, if this works for you, maybe I will also post a similar thread (albeit for a shorter distance)
	() Thanks