(Four happy carpoolers from smartcommute.org.)
Possible reasons for increase
- Gas prices increase, making single commutes uneconomical
- Clean air acts encourage/ anti-pollution measures offer incentives to carpool -- such as carpool lanes, inner city parking spaces etc.
Possible effects on in-car media
Two or more people, sharing a car, on the way to the same workspace. Would they want to get a jump on work before arriving there? Would this make internet access, email access, etc. more important than in a family-use car/ than when a family uses that car? (Am I underestimating how much a regular family might want access to the worldwide web whilst in the car on a family outing?)
Or are they happy to just listen to the radio? If one person is left to do the driving, and everyone else gets on with their day's work, might this be considered "anti-social"? Is carpooling as much a social experience as a matter of economics?
Link to Car as office.
Possible reasons for carpooling to decrease or not expand significantly
- Gas prices don't rise significantly, or they have little impact on behavior
- State governments allow the use of carpool lanes by individuals who pay an annual fee
Percentage of US Population Carpooling
From the US Census Bureau:
- 2000
- 12.2% of Workers aged 16 or over carpooled (or 15,634,051 people carpooled).
- 9.4% in a 2-person carpool; 1.7% in a 3-person carpool; 0.6% in a 4-person carpool; 0.3% in a 5-or 6-person carpool; 0.3% in a 7- or more-person carpool! (Total = 12.2%)
- A total of 112,736,101 people went to work by "Car, truck, or van", 87.9% of US Workers aged 16 or over.
- 1990
- 13.4% of Workers aged 16 or over carpooled (or 15,377,634 people carpooled)
- A total of 99,592,932 people went to work by "Car, truck, or van", 86.5% of US Workers aged 16 or over.
- 1980
- 19.7% of Workers aged 16 or over carpooled (or 19,065,047)
- A total of 81,258,496 people went to work by "Car, truck, or van", 84.1% of US Workers aged 16 or over.
- 1970
- Carpooling covered by "Private automobile, passenger" category in 1970. No figures.
- A total of 59,722,550 people went to work by "Car, truck, or van", 77.7% of US Workers aged 14 or over.
- 1960
- Carpooling covered by "Private automobile or carpool" in 1960. No figures for carpooling.
- A total of 41,368,062 people went to work by "Car, truck, or van", 64.0% of US Workers aged 14 or over.
These figures actually suggest to me a downward trend in carpooling in the past twenty years! Might we anticipate that this continues or goes into reverse? (And please correct me, if I'm misreading the figures).
