Wednesday 21 May 2014

Carpooling – The Good, the Bad and the Environment


Fuel prices have been stable for the past couple of weeks, but this trend is not going to continue nor is it going to go backward (wishful thinking). Some newspapers have already carried the news that we should be prepared for a substantial hike in fuel prices once the election season is over. The lull in price fluctuation was enforced by the Election Commission of India and comes under its code of conduct, which was lifted last week.

When faced with news, especially bleak news – there are two ways a person can go about dealing with it. Accept it or take steps for change. In this scenario, we can either accept that fuel prices will keep on rising. After all, that’s how it’s always played in the past OR we can take concrete alternative steps to counter it. The rise in fuel prices is just one of the many reasons why we should start looking at ways to share our daily commute. Look at it this way, more people in one automobile = less number of cars on the road = less chances of a traffic jam happening. More people reaching on time to their destinations is just one of the many positive outcomes arising out of this practice.

What’s stopping us from making group commuting a habit? Not only are we saving money, resources and time – we are making sure we leave a small carbon footprint in our country (more on carbon footprints here: http://www.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.aspx).

The only challenge I can see can come in the form of organizing everyone’s time and habits when heading out together in a single vehicle – but technology can help us here with many online services coming out to help us in this regard. One of the more helpful ones is - http://www.carpooling.in/

Here at Hero BPO, we have a culture of our employees travelling to and fro from work and home in company cabs – highlighting our commitment to group comminuting. People living in the same neighborhood travel together saving costs and thus helping leave a leaner carbon footprint.


“We're in a giant car heading towards a brick wall and everyones arguing over where they're going to sit” ― David Suzuki