Alternative Transportation Site Provides Help for Drivers, Commuters in Formation of 'Casual' Carpools

Falls Church, Va. (PRWEB) February 20, 2008 -- MyCasualCarpool.com, a newly launched alternative transportation (http://www.MyCasualCarpool.com) site, allows drivers (http://www.MyCasualCarpool.com) and commuters to propose rideshare lots and inform potential users of lot locations.

The site will help commuters organize "casual" carpools in their neighborhoods. Cities such as Washington, D.C., Houston, and San Francisco have a practice called "slugging" or "casual carpooling" in which people wait at commuter parking areas for lifts to work. The incentive for drivers in those cities to pick up riders: having one or more passengers allows them to drive in high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes reserved for cars occupied by two or more people. Most cities have no HOV lanes, but Kent Basson -- the Web site's founder -- wanted to bring the benefits of "slugging" to other cities.

Basson, a patent attorney in Washington, D.C., concedes that casual carpooling sounds similar to hitchhiking, with drivers picking up strangers. However, he points out that the California Highway Patrol and the San Francisco-area police said they could not recall any major crimes associated with the casual carpool system in the more than 30 years of the practice in the Bay area, according to a 2005 posting at SFGate.com.

"The concept involves people who live and work near each other sharing their journey. People do that every time they get into a subway or a bus," says Basson.

According to Basson, casual carpooling requires:

- Drivers and their vehicles

- People seeking rides

- Parking lots

- An incentive for commuting drivers to share their cars

Basson further notes that there are parking lots that are hardly used during working hours in virtually every neighborhood in the United States. According to Basson, many of those parking facilities are associated with houses of worship and are mainly used on weekends. Other lots are associated with shopping centers that have seen better days. Many people live within walking distance, biking distance, or a short drive of those parking locations. Basson's Web site provides suggestions on how to (1) approach those in charge of potential rideshare lots and; (2) demonstrate what they have to gain by allowing their facilities to be used by commuters.

The site allows users to propose rideshare lots for commuting to a particular facility or part of town, and provides a user proposing a rideshare lot with an estimate of how many commuters would potentially use the parking venue. E-mails can then be sent to those commuters with a link to information about the rideshare lot to gauge the interest level. If there is enough interest, the user proposing the rideshare location can send a second e-mail notifying commuters that the rideshare parking site is ready for use. Although commuters can take the initiative on their own to start rideshare lots, employers can facilitate the formation of casual carpools by encouraging employees to register at www.MyCasualCarpool.com, by explaining to employees how the site works, and by helping to arrange meeting areas for trips from work back to the rideshare lots.

"Many areas have one or more large facilities -- plants, mills, office building/parks, downtown areas, etc. -- that employ a large percentage of local residents," says Basson. "In such areas, it is likely that people in the same neighborhood are commuting to the same place every day around the same time. Sharing rides would obviously save money. However, conventional carpools usually have problems such as the habitually late commuter who often causes everyone to be late. Such setups do not usually last very long."

"Most cities do not have HOV lanes, but another obvious incentive for drivers to pick up passengers is cash," said Basson.

While drivers cannot usually charge riders without obtaining some sort of license, nothing prevents passengers from contributing to the expenses of drivers providing them with rides.

Basson's Web site allows users to post a suggested contribution toward driver expenses based on such factors as balancing the number of drivers and riders, the cost of fuel, and parking prices.

Basson says that many sites require users to perform a manual search of lists of people going to and from different areas to find a partner. Others offer top-down, one-size-fits-all solutions, such as organizing 15-person vanpools, and using vans bought specifically for that purpose.

On the other hand, MyCasualCarpool.com -- an alternative transportation site that provides assistance for drivers and commuters in the formation of "casual" carpools -- takes advantage of the knowledge of all commuters to organize, and requires no additional investment in facilities or vehicles. Please visit the Web site for more information.

Contact:

Kent Basson

202-739-5705

###