A Commuter’s Guide to Carpooling
From rising traffic to high gas prices and parking costs, driving to work comes with numerous challenges. Those who don’t live or work near transit and bike infrastructure may believe that these struggles are entirely unavoidable, but there’s one often overlooked way to make driving less expensive, faster, and more fun: carpooling!
What is Carpooling?
Carpooling is an arrangement by a group of commuters who drive together in one commuter’s personal car to their worksite(s). These groups usually consist of individuals who live and work near each other and have the same schedule. There’s a common misconception that carpools can only work if people are commuting to the same place; however, this isn’t always the case. If your neighbor works down the street from your office, it’s absolutely feasible to carpool with them, too.
Other carpool-adjacent forms of ridesharing include vanpooling and slugging. Vanpooling is when seven or more commuters, including the driver, ride together to and from work. Vanpools can be arranged using an employee’s personal van, a third-party vendor who covers maintenance and insurance costs, or an employer-owned vanpool. Slugging, often called casual carpooling, is when drivers pick up passengers (called “slugs”) from designated locations so that they can qualify for HOV lanes. It’s completely spontaneous and operates on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Why Carpool?
Between traffic, paid parking, and money exhausted on gasoline, driving to and from work multiple times per day can take a toll on commuters. Read on to learn more about how sharing the ride with your colleagues can alleviate these stressors.
Reduce Traffic
Carpooling means you’re taking part in a collective effort to reduce traffic during rush hour. The fewer people we have driving alone, the less traffic we see on the roads overall. Choosing to share the ride means you’re not only easing your own commute, but also making getting to work easier for others.
Use HOV Lanes
Did you know that you can pass traffic and get to work faster by riding in designated lanes for carpoolers? High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes are reserved for vehicles carrying multiple people. If you commute from Maryland or Virginia, carpooling with your colleagues may enable you to travel in HOV-2 (minimum of two people per vehicle) or HOV-3 (minimum of three people per vehicle) lanes. HOV lanes in the region include:
- Northern Virginia
- I-495 Express Lanes: Free HOV-3 express lanes with an E-ZPass Flex set to HOV mode.
- I-95 / I-395 Express Lanes: Free HOV-3 express lanes with an E-Z Pass Flex set to HOV mode.
- I-66 Inside the Beltway: Free HOV-3 (with E-ZPass Flex) hours from 5:30-9:30am going east and 3-7pm going west, Monday through Friday. Solo drivers must pay a toll to use these lanes during these hours. The lanes are free to all during off-period, including weekends.
- I-66 Outside the Beltway: 66 Express Lanes are HOV-3+. Not all vehicles classes are eligible for HOV declaration – learn more.
- Dulles Toll Road HOV-2: The far left lane is reserved for HOV-2 from 6:30-9am going east and 4-6:30pm going west, Monday through Friday.
- Maryland
- I-270: HOV 2+ lanes from southbound 6-9am and northbound from 3:30-6:30pm.
- US 50: HOV-2+ lanes open 24/7 between US 301 and the Beltway.
Learn more about your HOV options here.
Save on Parking
If your workplace requires you to pay for parking, splitting parking fees with your carpool group can cut these costs in half (or more, depending on how many people are in your group).
Some organizations even offer priority parking options for employees who carpool, such as reduced fees or designated parking spots (check out our latest Success Story for an example). If you start a carpool with your colleagues, it may be worth reaching out to your Human Resources administrator or workplace transportation coordinator to ask about carpool parking benefits available to you.
Save on Gas
Did you know that in 2022, the average DC commuter spent $850 in fuel costs? Imagine splitting that cost with another colleague or two – that’s a major reduction in commuting expenses. Sharing the ride is an easy and convenient way to spend less on gas, especially as many employers continue to shift towards in-person schedules.
Carpool Resources for Commuters
Not sure where to begin? There are numerous resources, programs, and perks available to help you share the ride.
Employer-Run Programs
When planning to start carpooling, one of the first places we recommend looking is directly through your employer. In addition to offering priority parking options, many organizations run ridematching programs to help employees find people to carpool with. Reach out to your Human Resources administrator or workplace transportation coordinator to find out about ridematching resources available to you.
Commuter Connections Resources
The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments’ Commuter Connections program offers a plethora of resources for carpoolers in the region:
- Ridematching: Create an account to enter Commuter Connections’ ridematching database and find carpool partners near you.
- Flexible Vanpooling: Commuter Connections’ Flexible Vanpool program allows Vanpool Operators and Coordinators to advertise open seats in their vanpools to the public. Through this service, commuters can request to join a vanpool in real-time or reserve a seat in advance for a one-time ride.
- CommuterCash: Use this FREE app by Commuter Connections to find carpool, vanpool transit, and multimodal travel options. Log your commute trips in the app and earn points that can be redeemed for cash, gift cards, or transportation credits. You can earn up to $600 per calendar year! Learn more and download on the App Store or Google Play.
- Guaranteed Ride Home (GRH): Whether it’s a personal illness, a sick child, or unscheduled overtime, it’s always good to have a backup travel option in case something interferes with your carpool. GRH provides commuters who carpool, vanpool, bike, walk, or take transit to work at least twice per week with a FREE and reliable ride home when life’s unexpected emergencies arise. Commuters can take advantage of GRH up to six times per year, completely free of charge. Learn more and register.
Slugging
Looking to start slugging? There are tons of websites, local groups, and online forums to help you find slug lines near you. Check out our Slugging 101 blog for a full overview of how to get started with slugging.
Ready to Rideshare?
We hope this guide to carpooling will be helpful in your journey to Commute Smarter, Not Harder! If you have any questions about available ridesharing resources, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We also encourage you to visit our website’s Car page to learn more about sustainable driving options in the District.
