To carpool... or not to carpool... that is the question. (if you can think of a cornier opening than that... I want to know about it!)

Recently, there has been a lot of discussion in the Vancouver area about alternative commuting. This was spurred on by a report that... well, to sum up, traffic will get worse if something isn't done now. There has been a lot of discussion... from transit to carpooling.

BC Transit is an ill-run publicly funded transportation system that is simply inadequate to meet the needs of today's commuters. Quite simply, there aren't enough buses throughout the day. Rush hour buses are all backed to the brim, and for the rest of the day, buses are all but non-existant. From an economic standpoint, the public will not accept higher taxes to fund buses that are not at least breaking even... which gives us a major dilemma.

Carpooling seems to be the only viable alternative that the government can afford... esp. since the onus is on the commuter. The problem is, people still think of carpools as "cars".... when in reality, they should be thought of as an alternative transit system. Carpools leave according to schedule... and participants need to work and live around it. But unlike transit, carpool schedules do have some flexibility built in... If the government is willing to put the kind of dollars they put into transit into carpooling programs...

Carpooling on its own is already a very economical venture compared to driving a SOV. A normal carpool consists of 3 people... which means that all costs associated with driving is reduced by 2/3s right off the bat. Fuel costs, vehicle maintenance, insurance, and parking. But if goes beyond that. To the government and the region, if more people carpool, less road maintenance would be required (due to fewer vehicles on the road), and the workforce would become more efficient - less time spent on the road with fewer cars translates to people getting to work (and home) quicker, and with less aggravation. And an added bonus... the cost of fuel (for weekend trips to the country et al.) will likely drop due to a lower demand!

The question is, how do convince the SOBs in SOVs to switch into carpools? Well, currently, the economical benefits are vastly outweighed by the convenience of a SOV. So, the key is of course to make driving SOVs more inconvenient, and to increase the benefits of being in carpools. This is where the goverment needs to step in. The key to increase the economic benefits of the HOV and to decrease the convenience of an SOV - this may involve taking one and shifting it to the other.

One of the quickest and easiest things to do is to take the government's HOV lane project one step further. Rather than adding lanes, or even worse, just signage, to create HOV lanes, the goverment should start building HOV-only highways (where carpools and buses can zip to their heart's content...), and to designate certain arterials through the city (such as Granville or Knight) as HOV only. The natural effect of these actions would result in thousands of SOVs becoming frustrated at the inconvenience... and they will all be crowded onto a limited number of streets. An added bonus to the HOV highway user is that the speed limit could conceivably be higher than most other highways, as it would be a new highway, and could be designed properly to support higher speeds safely.

To pay for the new HOV highways, the government should consider installing tolls on all bridges. The North Shore is complaining about how a toll on the new First Narrows (to be built) is unfair... which has some merit. Installing tolls on all bridges means that the the 1st Narrows gets paid for that much quicker, and if the toll is continued to be applied, revenue can go straight into the new highways, and any other carpool initiative programs. And the real kicker... carpools should be excempt!

On an added economic front, ICBC should consider reducing carpoolers' insurance rate by 2/3.. as they are all driving only 1/3 of the time. Plus, their part in reducing the amount of traffic on the roads (which translates to a lower likelyhood of an accident) should be rewarded. The only stipulation is that carpoolers will need to buy 3rd party liability...

Ok, now that's all fine and dandy. However, no one has helped anyone form a carpool yet. There are a lot of excuses about why people can't do it... but that's all they are... excuses. People have become so accustomed to the convenience of the SOV, that they've come to think of it as the only way. Not so.

One of the big excuses is that people can't find anyone who lives near them, works near them, and has a similar schedule. The government could implement a carpool registry - participants submit their schedules and locations, as well as any special requests (such as smoking, or wanting to pool with someone in particular). Devising a computer program to sort this information out is relatively simple... call UBC or SFU and offer it as a credited project. Matched groups (of 20 or whatever) can then be gathered at a local school or library for a meet and greet. From there, formal carpools can be arranged. Local co-ordinators should be hired for each region (size to be determined) to help arrange any schedule conflicts, changes, or problems.

The government's current carpooling program of simply adding HOV lanes to existing highways or addding signs simply won't work. They are simply standing on a moral high ground and expecting people to follow. The motto "If you build it, they will come", just does not apply in this case. They need to encourage carpooling by offering added benefits, and to assist people in getting involved in carpools.