Carpool: Automobile and Transportation Options Essay

For many Frederick County residents, commuting 1-2 hours a day to get to and from their DC area jobs is the norm. According to one Washington Post poll, Washington-area residents spend or so twice as long getting to work as plurality in the rest of the nation. They overly get stuck in traffic jams iii times more often than commuters in the rest of the country (Ginsburg). Yet, most commuters in our area still prefer to drive themselves to work.When weighing the picking to either drive yourself to work or elevator carpool, it would be smart to take on the benefits and drawbacks of both, as well as to take an inventory of how each picking fits your priorities, goals, and preferences. A carpool is made up of two or more hatful who share a ride. The obvious benefits of carpooling include reduced traffic over-crowding and improved air quality art object some of the more personalised benefits of carpooling are being able to relax or read while someone else drives, saving on the c ost of gas, reducing wear and saddle on your vehicle, and obtaining possible discounts on auto insurance (Transportation Options).It is also most likely to be faster, cheaper, cleaner, and less crowded than public merchant marine (Zimmerman). Recently, the Internet has made it easier to connect with locals that want to share a ride. Disadvantages of carpooling whitethorn include having to ride with strangers (or putting yourself out there and making the confinement to meet new people), not having the freedom to run errands on the commission home if destinyed, and having to remember carpool etiquette (Zimmerman). spate sharing rides typically live and/or work near each opposite and have a comparable work schedule which could be difficult to arrange (Yeager).One injury of being a carpool device driver is the potential legal action from passengers in the case of an accident. Although most metropolitan area carpool organizations these days offer a guaranteed ride home service of some sort (Transportation Options), you would need to find alternate transportation on a day when your carpool driver is sick or on vacation. madcap ones experience vehicle, the preferred method of getting where you need to go for decades now, has plenty of its have advantages and disadvantages of course.Advantages of driving yourself include being in control of where you go and at what speed, the ability to have a conversation on speaker address (hands-free, mind you) without having to worry about annoying or offending other passengers, and the ability to listen to your own music at whichever volume you desire. An clause on Associated Content, a news Website for Yahoo, suggests that drivers may also choose their car over ride sharing because of conflicting schedules, unpredictable overtime, long hours, explosive demands and unexpected deadlines (Nyholm).One of the biggest disadvantages of commuting in your own car is the cost. The modal(a) cost of owning and operating a v ehicle in 2009 was 54 cents per mile, or over $14,000 per year, according to AAAs 2009 Edition of Driving be as listed on the Commuter Connections Website (Transportation Options). Even so, owning and driving a vehicle is somewhat of an American standard and a right of passage. Driving is a responsibility people take on with a smell of pride.Edward McDonagh, a Sociology professor who served as dean of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Ohio State University, was once quoted as saying The car has become a secular sanctuary for the individual, his shrine to the self, his mobile Walden Pond (Driving Quotes). People love their cars so much that they are willing to keep on driving despite the expense, the high volume of traffic, and the adverse effects it may have on the planet. Carpooling is definitely more earth-friendly, while driving is ostensibly more self-satisfying for a multitude of reasons.It is important to think about where your priorities inhabit whether or not you want to make more of an effort to go green, help reduce rush hour congestion, or save a little money and wear and tear on your car or whether your life dictates that you have the freedom to come and go as you please. When decision making whether or not carpooling is right for you, it makes sense to explore each option, to comparing all of the advantages and disadvantages of both driving yourself and carpooling, and to think about which best fits your lifestyle.