Question for those driving for 1 hour+ to work

dewsbury

Example: Mandatory car sharing

Suppose the N11 only allowed cars with 2 or more occupants after 7 am.

If this reduced your driving time (& petrol bill) by half who you be in favour of it?

The internet could be used to match people for sharing.

The key to success is that 2-per-car rule would be mandatory.

With my shift patterns it wouldn't work!

having commuted the N11 a long long time ago over 1hr drive
I think TIME is a big factor for people
they dont wanna be adding on even 5 minutes to their journey to go pick someone up

never mind sharing their car with a stranger who may not like your taste in music or whatever

an hour is a long time with someone you dont know

dewsbury

dewsbury wrote: »

The key to success is that 2-per-car rule would be mandatory.

hate dictators

Im all for green alternatives, how about fast train line, they had trains that went over 100mph in the 1800s
a 150mph train would make a journey from wicklow town to dublin city center painless
Dublin Galway would be under an hour too

sharing cars isnt practical on a large scale simply because people do things after work pop into a shop, meet someone
would work on a small scale but mandatory no

oil prices would need to rise more for people to consider this more

L1011

With my colleagues, entirely impossible. Nobody else lives in the same town. And I'm unlikely to find someone with the same working time patterns as me in the general populace who also live in this town and work in Tallaght (all, ooh, I'd guess three of them...).

Dingatron

Don't do the N11 (M1) but I'd have no issue carsharing and I did sign up to some car sharing web site before christmas. No replies as yet but we'll see if that changes with the rising petrol prices. I reckon the one thing that would change peoples views is when it starts hitting their pockets.

cast_iron

dewsbury wrote: »

If this reduced your driving time (& petrol bill) by half who you be in favour of it?

It wouldn't.

The internet could be used to match people for sharing.

And those who don't have internet access?

The key to success is that 2-per-car rule would be mandatory.

There is no key to success here. It's a ridiculous idea for so many reasons.

Our man in Havana

Sales of blow up dolls will increase if this becomes law.

Bond-007

Bond-007 wrote: »

Sales of blow up dolls will increase if this becomes law.

Not if thry deploy this type of camera http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=517849&in_page_id=1770
OK I know it's the daily mail, but I have seen similar aritcles elsewhere but couldnt be arsed to search.

patrickc

Deleted User wrote: »

With my shift patterns it wouldn't work!

i'd be in the same boat , if i could find someone compatible i'd be for it.

markpb

Carpooling generally doesn't work, several cities that have tried it have abandoned it. The cost of enforcement is huge and the level of abuse (like the dolls Bond007 mention) is huge. I think there's a GAO report from last year looking at car pool lanes all over the US and they concluded that in general, there's no proof that carpooling lanes have caused anyone to car pool.

spacetweek

There are many, many factors making carpooling difficult. The days when factory workers all clocked out at the same time and went straight home are over. In this day and age, everyone lives dispersed over the region surrounding the place of work, they finish work at different times, they have messages they have to do, they're defensive of their personal space in the car, etc.

dewsbury

spacetweek wrote: »

There are many, many factors making carpooling difficult. The days when factory workers all clocked out at the same time and went straight home are over. In this day and age, everyone lives dispersed over the region surrounding the place of work, they finish work at different times, they have messages they have to do, they're defensive of their personal space in the car, etc.

As the OP I accept all the logic in the above post.
Carpooling is difficult ....but not impossible?

Let's put the argument the other way around!

Suppose..suppose the N11 mandatory car sharing was already in force. All the commuters had their various arrangements made. The system had been running for over a year..

Now tell all these people that the project is being abandoned.
Overnight everybody's commuting time DOUBLES ! A disaster!

Incidentally I think the loss of personal "space" is the biggest obstacle to carpooling. I can think of work-arounds for the other obstacles.

Our man in Havana

Suppose..suppose the N11 mandatory car sharing was already in force. All the commuters had their various arrangements made. The system had been running for over a year..

Now tell all these people that the project is being abandoned.
Overnight everybody's commuting time DOUBLES ! A disaster!

Why? Would those that like carpooling not continue with it?

Mena

Personally I'd add another 30 to 45 minutes to my already 90 to 120 minute commute before allowing a stranger in the car with me. I like my "me" time thanks.

Mena

Mena wrote: »

Personally I'd add another 30 to 45 minutes to my already 90 to 120 minute commute before allowing a stranger in the car with me. I like my "me" time thanks.

Same here, one/two hours with a stranger each day can be stressful especially if you don't have anything in common.

How about a "dating agency" for carpoolers!

IanCurtis

Mena wrote: »

Personally I'd add another 30 to 45 minutes to my already 90 to 120 minute commute before allowing a stranger in the car with me. I like my "me" time thanks.

It's frightening to think you are prepared to sacrifice two hours, forty-five minutes a day driving to and from work.

IanCurtis

IanCurtis wrote: »

It's frightening to think you are prepared to sacrifice two hours, forty-five minutes a day driving to and from work.

There are many who have no choice, well excluding the one of having a job or not!

dewsbury

Okay folks, As the OP I am now abandoning my crusade for mandatory carpooling! I seem to be in the minority.

My new crusade is ...

allowing cars with 3 or more into bus lanes.

Any takers??

(Please don't tell me it would be too difficult to police. An occasional Garda or even cameras could monitor the lanes. No blow up doll comments either!)

mikemac

Sorry, don't agree with your new crusade OP.

Give someone an inch and they'll take a mile! If it's clear they are not allowed in the buslanes then people will generally abide by that.
But introducing new rules will only complicate it. And also, a motorist seeing cars with 3 passengers go down the buslane will probably join in too.

Hey, lots of buslanes are open after 7pm but people are sheep and they don't check the signs and instead queue in traffic.

Buslanes are crowded as it is:
Taxis without fares or not on their way to a fare are not supposed to be there but they are.
Bikers are not meant to be there but they are always used, and rightly so imo.
Cyclists use them and sometimes cycle lanes are provided but the cyclists won't use them.

Keep the buslanes free!
If people want to commute long distances and are faced with heavy traffic, then they are part of the problem and not the solution
If they want to be proactive about it, you could buy a scooter. I realy doubt everyone needs their car for work

Deleted User wrote: »

How about a "dating agency" for carpoolers!

I like it
Meet a new commuter from your area every day, like speedating!

godtabh

What you need is high occupancy lanes like they have in America or Holland (I think).

These lanes have priority over everything but you can only go with them in 2 or more people in the car. It only requires one lane as well as the lane direction changes to suit the peak flows.

I've seen it work first hand in the states. Very useful

the_syco

dewsbury wrote: »

The key to success is that 2-per-car rule would be mandatory.

No. My reasons:

a) the non-driver may think it's their right to get a lift.

b) the driver may hate the non-driver, and the added stress of a long journey may increase the chance of a crash.

c) if you work contract or shifts: you may not be able to get someone at short notice.

stovelid

I'd be in favour as long as none of the occupants were allowed to chat to me that early in the morning.